Hearing News Watch

Jul. 23, 2012

Oticon raises funds for the American Heart Association

David Kirkwood
Joined by a dozen other Oticon employees, Rasmus Borsting, executive director, handed a giant check to Lisa Marie Arieno, regional director of the American Heart Association of Central New Jersey and Greater Union County.   SOMERSET, NJ–Oticon, Inc., presented a check for $10,000 to the American Heart Association (AHA) at a recent ceremony at its new U.S. headquarters. The donation
Jul. 18, 2012

Patient sues ENT; claims he overlooked warning sign of acoustic neuroma

David Kirkwood
CHARLESTON, WV—While the $9 million suit against Justin Bieber for allegedly causing a woman to lose her hearing is getting a lot more attention (see this week’s Hearing View), a much less publicized case in West Virginia may have more serious implications for hearing care providers and consumers alike. As reported in The West Virginia Record, a legal journal, Daniel
Jul. 18, 2012

Hearing aid sales up slightly in 2012, but mostly because of demographic factors

David Kirkwood
Writing last week on Hearing Views, Sara Bloom, who covered the hearing aid industry from the early 1990s through 2010, made this observation: “The hearing care industry was flat for as long as I was writing about it. For all those 17 years, I would write that only about 25% of those who would benefit from hearing help did, in
Jul. 11, 2012

High school basketball star sees his future in audiology

David Kirkwood
JUNCTION, IL–How many audiologists are able to dunk a basketball? While a search of the Internet fails to yield an answer, the odds are that the number is in the single digits. However, if things go according to Andrew Drone’s plans, that number may rise by 1. The dunking part is easy for Drone, who is a 6-foot-11, 265-pound, second-team
Jul. 05, 2012

New test seeks to identify hearing loss among over 1 billion Chinese

David Kirkwood
SOUTHAMPTON, UK—In China, the world’s most populous country, an estimated 10% or more of its 1.35 billion people suffer from hearing loss.  Yet, only about 1% of them wear hearing aids. Despite the enormous growth in its economy, China remains largely a developing nation in which hearing care is a luxury available to only a small minority. However, the University
Jul. 04, 2012

Early head of audiology at Walter Reed dies

David Kirkwood
WASHINGTON, DC–Mary Jane Ambrose Postove, a pioneers of American audiology, died at her home here on June 15 at the age of 93. Born in Dunkirk, NY, to Lillian Promenschenkel Ambrose and Thomas Patrick Ambrose, she received her master’s degree in audiology from the State University of New York at Fredonia, then earned a master of arts from the University
Jun. 29, 2012

Parents, beware! Holiday fireworks can damage kids’ hearing

David Kirkwood
ROCKVILLE, MD–With an eye to the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) issued an advisory this week to Americans everywhere to protect their hearing from exposure to Independence Day’s traditional fireworks displays. ASHA warned that the noise from exploding fireworks can reach 155 dB– louder than a military jet taking off. As a result, spectators anywhere close
Jun. 27, 2012

Prolonged exposure to traffic noise linked to increased rate of heart attack

David Kirkwood
COPENHAGEN—Living close to a busy city street or highway has various drawbacks. The constant traffic noise is annoying and may also pose a threat to one’s hearing. But recently, a group of European scientists, led by Mette Sørensen of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, has reported that long-term exposure to the noise of road traffic is associated with
Jun. 27, 2012

Candidates clash over Tennessee’s hearing aid mandate

David Kirkwood
MARYVILLE, TN—Only rarely are hearing aids the subject of political campaigns. However, Tennessee’s recently enacted policy of requiring health insurance companies to cover hearing aids for children has led to charges and countercharges from the two candidates for the Republican nomination for state senator in Tennessee’s 2nd District. Scott Hughes, who is challenging the incumbent, Sen. Doug Overbey, asserted on
Jun. 20, 2012

Hearing better on the bus; Michigan company is nation’s first to loop its fleet

David Kirkwood
OWOSSO, MI–The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Indian Trails, Inc., have teamed up to install induction loops, also known as hearing loops, on a fleet of 17 motor coaches that operate 34 scheduled routes throughout Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. “I’m quite sure this is the first American bus line with hearing loops,” said David G. Myers, PhD, a