Hearing News Watch

By David H. Kirkwood  July 13 update German’s victory over Argentina this afternoon in the final of the 2014 World Cup adds further evidence that, contrary to Hear the World’s theory (see below), the team whose fans are quieter than its opponent’s has the advantage because its members have less noise-induced hearing loss. Or, just possibly, the Germans were better

  POMONA, CA—How much of the day are American workers exposed to loud noise—loud enough that someone in their workplace has to raise his or her voice to be heard? The answer to that depends on whom you ask—employees or employers. When Pomona-based EPIC (Ear Professionals International Corporation) Hearing Healthcare commissioned a company to ask that question as part of

CUPERTINO, CA—Soundhawk, a high-tech start-up company with an impressive pedigree, began taking advance orders last week on its web site for a $279 “smart listening system.” According to Soundhawk’s founder, Rodney Perkins, MD, an otologist at Stanford University School of Medicine and founder of the California Ear Institute, the new system “is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work in

LONDON–Neeti Kailas, a young Indian woman on a mission to bring universal hearing screening of newborn babies to her country, is one of six visionaries under age 30 named to receive this year’s Rolex Awards for Enterprise. The winners, selected from 1800 applicants, were announced on June 24 by the Royal Society in London. Each will receive 50,000 Swiss francs (about

Since its founding in April 2011, HearingHealthMatters.org (HHTM) has quickly emerged as one of the most widely read and most influential publications in the hearing field. I use the term “hearing field” advisedly, since, unlike nearly all the other print and online publications concerned with hearing, ours is written not only for hearing care providers, but also for consumers with

BOSTON–Anna Gilmore Hall, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), contends that in failing to consider hearing loss as a substantial, catastrophic injury, One Fund Boston, the foundation created to help victims of the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, is discriminating against many of the runners and spectators who were severely injured in the terrorist attack. In

BLOOMINGTON, IN—More than 30,000 Americans took a free over-the-phone hearing test in May, which was National Better Hearing Month. Because of the enthusiastic response, Communication Disorders Technology, Inc., a non-profit organization that waived the usual $8 charge for using its screening tool, decided to extend the free offer through the end of June. The National Hearing Test was developed by the

STÄFA, SWITZERLAND–Sonova Holding AG announced today (June 16) that it had reached an agreement to purchase 100% of Comfort Audio, a Swedish maker and distributor of assistive listening technology. The transaction, which will require approval by regulatory agencies, is a further step in the diversification of Sonova, parent company of Phonak and the world’s largest hearing aid manufacturer.   In

Canada has long had a progressive record on social issues. For example, for more than 30 years Canadians have had publicly funded universal health care. Yet the country is lagging behind most other prosperous nations, including the United States, in an important aspect of hearing care: newborn hearing screening. Despite growing criticism from the media (including from HearingHealthMatters.org), most Canadian

People who are deaf or hard of hearing make up one of the largest populations that are helped by various provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One subset of that population that is protected by the ADA consists of people with hearing loss who are in prison. This week, while I am on vacation, I have called upon