Hearing News Watch

For an updated post on this subject, click here. By David H. Kirkwood ROCKVILLE, MD–A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to tighten existing restrictions on the marketing of personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) is arousing both a storm of criticism and strong support from various interested parties. Although the February 5 deadline for submitting responses to FDA’s proposed

SEATTLE—The National Football League conference championship games are a big deal for pretty much all American sports fans. However, people who share this blog’s interest in hearing and hearing health had two extra reasons to watch Sunday’s battle between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers for the National Football Conference (NFC) crown. One was the Seahawks’ back-up fullback

TUCSON, AZ–Johnna Tanji, a fourth-year AuD student at the University of Arizona in Tucson, has been awarded the annual Judith Gravel Fellowship in Pediatric Audiology. The fellowship honors the memory of the late Judy Gravel, PhD, a prominent and beloved audiologist who did much to advance the audiologic care of children in the United States and beyond. The Hear the

TRONDHEIM, NORWAY—Only a tiny percentage of people with hearing loss in the Third World have any hope of getting help for their condition. That has been true for as long as hearing aids have been around. However, there are more and more non-profit organizations seeking to develop new technologies to change that situation. Among them is Norway-based SINTEF, the largest independent

NEW YORK—New York City has launched a number of initiatives in recent years to improve the health of those who live, work, or visit there. New York prohibited cigarette smoking in nearly all public spaces and it ordered restaurants to remove the transfats from all the food they served. Later, eateries were required to post the calorie count of the

WASHINGTON, DC–The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) charges that owners and management companies of major housing complexes in six states are discriminating against people who are deaf or hard of hearing. NFHA announced on January 9 that it had filed eight complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against companies in Arkansas, California, Georgia, Mississippi, South

Anyone who has used a hearing loop system with their hearing aid or cochlear implant is invited to click here to take part in a survey being conducted by the Hearing Loss Association of America to assess consumers’ experiences with loops.   By David H. Kirkwood Over the past decade, the Let’s Loop America movement has gone from a glint

OMAHA—A medical student’s long battle to receive the accommodations for his hearing loss that he says he needs to graduate from Creighton University Medical School is nearing a successful conclusion. As discussed in several posts at HearingHealthMatters.org since 2012, Michael Argenyi, who wears a cochlear implant, applied to Creighton University in 2008 as hearing impaired. While the Omaha university offered

By David H. Kirkwood RESTON, VA—As was reported here on January 1, the Association of VA Audiologists (AVAA) issued a statement on December 16, 2013, opposing proposed federal legislation that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make greater use of hearing aid specialists in serving the needs of veterans with hearing loss and related conditions. On January

By David H. Kirkwood WASHINGTON, DC—Citing “significant differences in the education and training of audiologists and hearing aid specialists,” the Association of VA Audiologists (AVAA) issued a statement on December 16 opposing proposed federal legislation that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire hearing aid specialists internally and to update its contracting policies to allow hearing aid specialists