Hearing News Watch

LOUISVILLE, KY—A jury here awarded $7.24 million to a family from Vine Grove, KY, after concluding that Advanced Bionics, a cochlear implant manufacturer, had knowingly sold a defective device that caused severe harm to 6-year-old Breanna Sadler. In their verdict, reached on April 17 in federal court in Louisville, the jury awarded the Sadlers $6.25 million in punitive damages and

BOSTON—Everyone knows about the tragic loss of life caused by the two bombs that exploded last week near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon. The grievous injuries to scores of spectators, which cost many of them their legs, have also been widely reported. However, it is almost certain that the explosions and the shock waves and noise they

WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has reached settlements with eight health care facilities around the country that it found to be in violation of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for communicating with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Most of the cases stemmed from the reported failure of the eight hospitals, medical clinics, nursing homes,

ANAHEIM, CA–An international public art initiative, a “Three Wise Monkeys” campaign to encourage regular hearing health checks, and a pocket-sized electronic hearing testing device captured top honors in the Ida Institute’s competition, Ideas, Speak up – Action and Awareness for Hearing Loss. The winning entries were celebrated at a reception held here April 3 at the start of the American

By David H. Kirkwood HONOLULU–In a match-up that might seem like David v. Goliath (or possibly Betts v. Bieber), a small company in Honolulu is taking on Apple, Inc., the world’s second largest information technology company with annual revenues of over $150 billion. In the suit, filed March 28 in Hawaii District Court in Honolulu, Randolph Divisions and its subsidiary HearPod,

WASHINGTON, DC—Lead sponsors Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) were joined by eight co-sponsors in reintroducing Hearing Aid Tax Credit legislation into the Congress on March 21. These and other sponsors will work to ensure that the measure is considered during the 113th Congress, one in which major federal tax reform is likely. This year’s bill, HR

LEXINGTON, KY—Audiology students who have an entrepreneurial flair are invited to enter the inaugural Student Business Plan Competition. The competition was organized by the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA) and its Virtual Student Chapter, with financial support from the EarQ Group. The contest is open to student members of ADA who will be in their third or fourth year

LOS ANGELES–Paul Dybala, PhD, a pioneer in making the Internet a useful tool for audiologists and for persons with hearing loss, has been appointed president  of HealthyHearing.com, an online provider of information on hearing loss and hearing care in the U.S. Dybala will be in charge of the overall strategic vision and focus of the web site. Dybala will remain

Revised April 4, 2013 COPENHAGEN—William Demant Holding, parent company of Oticon, announced today that it has signed an agreement to take over 100% of Neurelec SA, a French man
ufacturer of cochlear implants, at a cost of 57.5 million Euros, or about $74 million U.S. With the acquisition, Demant has joined its archrival, Sonova, as being the only hearing aid companies

WASHINGTON, DC—For a baseball fan like Jacob Landis, opening week of the season is always a big deal. But this year will be extra-special, as the 24-year-old pizza baker from Annapolis, MD, will be part of the action. Starting tomorrow, April 3, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., Landis will set off on a nearly 6-month, 10,000-mile bicycle odyssey that