Hearing News Watch

BOSTON—An elected official who is a leading advocate for people with hearing loss in Massachusetts will welcome International Hearing Society (IHS) members to his state when the organization holds its 60th Annual Convention & Expo in Boston from September 14-17. State Rep. John Scibak (D-South Hadley) will participate in the opening Keynote Lunch on Thursday, September 15. Massachusetts Governor Deval

DENVER—Azithromycin, a drug that is used in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also causes hearing loss in a small percentage of patients to whom it is prescribed. So reported scientists from Denver Health and from the COPD Clinical Research Network writing in the August 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Their randomized controlled trial found that

WASHINGTON, DC—Having trouble finding a cell phone that you—or your hearing aid patients–can use with hearing aids? If so, the Better Hearing Institute may be able to help you out. As a service to hearing aid owners and hearing healthcare professionals, the Washington-based non-profit organization has created a permanent page (betterhearing.org/hearing_loss_treatment/cellphones.cfm) on its web site listing all compatible cell phones

TORONTO–Marshall Chasin, AuD, MSc, editor of the Hear the Music section of hearinghealthmatters.org, will present a course at Audiology Online on hearing aid fittings that will debut on September 28. Chasin is also director of research at the Musicians’ Clinics of Canada. Entitled “Hearing Aid Fittings: Different Programs for Different Languages,” the course will discuss how linguistic variations may require

PASADENA, CA—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected a settlement on August 19 that would have given consumers who suffered hearing loss from using Bluetooth headsets a tiny fraction of the amount that would have been awarded to their lawyers. As reported by Tim Hull, of the Courthouse News Service, the class action combined 26 lawsuits around

GREENFORD, UK—Glaxo Group Limited (GSK) will take a £1,250,000 (about $2 million) equity stake in Autifony Therapeutics Ltd., a new British biotech company spun off from GSK. Under the agreement, announced on August 22, the British subsidiary of the global pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, will own 25.4% of Autifony. In exchange, the Glaxo Group will hand over voltage-gated ion channel modulator

LOS ANGELES—Audiologists, otolaryngologists, audiologists, deaf educators, representatives of industry, and others who care about hearing will gather here September 8-9 for the second Conference of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health. Following up on last year’s conference, attendees will seek consensus on the best practices in global outreach. House Research Institute is hosting the event. The mission of the Coalition

“…Living with hearing loss every day doesn’t necessarily mean we’re good at it. On the contrary, most of us suck at being hard of hearing or deaf! What we do excel at, however, is ignoring our own needs, devising ways to hide our condition, and, worst of all, meekly putting up with inaccessible conditions, simply because we don’t know how to make

NEW YORK–Whoopi Goldberg’s secret is out. Hiding behind those signature dreadlocks are a pair of small hearing aids. So reported The National Enquirer in a recent interview with the Oscar-winning actress (for Ghost) and co-host of The View, the popular weekday television talk show. For those who follow the hearing industry, Whoopi’s hearing aids were no big surprise. At the

COTTAGE GROVE, OR–In the classic 1980 comedy Caddyshack, starring Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Bill Murray, the climax comes when Murray, playing the gopher-obsessed groundskeeper Carl Spackler, turns to heavy explosives to eradicate the pesky rodents. It made for a hilarious scene, but it did not look like a good idea, especially when the explosions destroyed much of the golf