Hearing News Watch

  Frank E. Musiek, PhD, a renowned expert in electrophysiology and central auditory processing disorders (CAPD) who oversees the Pathways section of the blog Hearing Health & Technology (HHTM), has been selected by the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) to chair the 2016 Academy Research Conference (ARC) to be held in Phoenix on April 12, just prior to the opening of

By David H. Kirkwood Two veteran New York Police Department (NYPD) officers’ 5-year legal battle to return to active duty wearing their hearing aids ended in victory on March 9 when they agreed to a settlement of the suit they had filed against the City of New York in 2010. It was a victory not only for Dan Carione and Sgt.

    NEW YORK—Customers with hearing loss will soon be able to communicate better with pharmacists at the 101 Kinney Drugs stores in New York State.   Under an agreement announced March 12 by NYS Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman, each Kinney Drugs store will provide assistive listening systems and qualified sign-language interpreters, as required by law. In addition, KPH Healthcare Services,

      WASHINGTON, DC—The announcement of the first Unison Hearing Health Global Summit was the biggest story to emerge from the 2015 annual meeting of the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) on March 6, but not the only news. The national trade association of manufacturers of hearing aids and related products elected Scott Davis as chairman of the Board. Davis,

    By David H. Kirkwood WASHINGTON, DC—The International Hearing Society (IHS) and the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA) will join forces, under the umbrella of the Hearing Healthcare Education Coalition (HHEC), to hold the inaugural Unison Hearing Health Global Summit September 8-11, 2016, in Chicago. Unison, which starting next year will take the place of the two professional

WASHINGTON, DC—When the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) holds both its biennial Hearing on the Hill and its annual meeting here this week, the trade association will be focused on passage of the Hearing Aid Tax Credit bill (S. 315). Although similar legislation introduced in the past several sessions of Congress has never been enacted despite broad support from hearing health

      STÄFA, SWITZERLAND—Sonova Holding AG, the world’s largest hearing aid manufacturer, announced today (March 2) that it will acquire three German hearing aid companies: Hansaton Akustik GmBH, which is a family-run hearing aid wholesaler, and two retail chains, Vitakustik GmbH and Fiebing Hörtechnik GmbH. The purchase prices were not disclosed.     Sonova, which owns Phonak, Unitron, and

RESTON, VA—American Academy of Audiology (AAA) members have elected a future president and three new members of the board of directors, all four of whom practice audiology in medical centers. In month-long voting that concluded on February 17, Ian M. Windmill, PhD, who is clinical director in the Division of Audiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, was chosen to

      NEW ORLEANS–When noise in the workplace makes the news, it’s usually either because OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has charged an employer with violating its noise regulations or workers are suing an employer for causing damage to their hearing. Last week, though, two companies were cited for doing the right thing for their workers’ hearing

    By David H. Kirkwood COPENHAGEN–Two of the hearing aid industry’s Big Six companies–William Demant, parent company of Oticon, and GN ReSound—are taking steps to strengthen their retail distribution channels. Demant announced yesterday (February 17) that it is negotiating to buy a majority interest in Audika Groupe, the largest network of hearing aid centers in France.   On February