Hearing News Watch

MOUNTAIN HOME, TN—The audiology staff at the James H. Quillen/Mountain Home VA Medical Center have received the National Veterans Health Administration Systems Redesign Champion Award. They were selected for the honor by the Under Secretary for Health for improving the efficiency of the Hearing Aid Evaluation Clinic without compromising the effectiveness of service delivery Prior to January 2010, the Hearing

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—The sale of HearUSA’s assets to Siemens Hearing Instruments, Inc., was completed on September 9. As reported in this blog on August 2, Siemens outbid William Demant, parent company of Oticon, for HearUSA, in an auction held after that company filed for bankruptcy last spring. To acquire the national network of hearing care practices, Siemens paid approximately

NEW YORK—The board of the Deafness Research Foundation announced September 14 that the organization has changed its name, effective immediately, to the Hearing Health Foundation (HHF). To signal the 53-year-old foundation’s unwavering dedication to hearing research, it unveiled a groundbreaking research consortium, the Hearing Restoration Project Clifford P. Tallman Jr., chair of the HHF board, said, “This is an exciting day

MINNEAPOLIS—Five outstanding future audiologists have been named William F. Austin Scholarship winners, and 10 others were honored as Outstanding Student Clinician. The Austin Scholars, who were selected from nearly 140 applicants, will receive up to $10,000 from Starkey Laboratories, Inc., to pursue their studies. The scholarships are named for the founder and principal owner of Starkey, the largest U.S. manufacturer

BERKELEY, CA—Tinnitus has long been among the most common, troublesome, mysterious, and intractable conditions related to hearing. While many cases are mild, tinnitus can cause constant torment, sleeplessness, and desperation that may even lead to thought of suicide. Adding to the frustration over tinnitus is that neither the causes nor the best treatments for the condition are clear. While many

Recipients of top honors in the Focus on People Awards program joined Peer Lauritsen, center, president of Oticon, Inc., at the awards presentation. They are, from left, Donald Sims, Jennifer Alberstadt, Sarah Wegley, and Dylan Dunlap. LOS ANGELES—A dozen Americans whose accomplishments have proven that hearing loss need not limit one’s dreams and aspirations were honored here September 12 as

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA–Cochlear Limited, the world’s dominant manufacturer of cochlear implants, announced today (September 12) that it is voluntarily recalling unimplanted devices in the Nucleus CI500 range after learning of an increased incidence of failures in its Nucleus CI512 implants. According to the Australian-based company, fewer than 1% of the CI512s implanted since the product’s introduction in 2009 have failed. However,

LAS VEGAS—Former President Bill Clinton will be a keynote speaker at Hearing Innovation Expo 2012, being held here January 4-7 at the Cosmopolitan. Organized by Starkey Laboratories, the largest American hearing aid manufacturer, the unprecedented event is expected to draw 3000 attendees from the hearing care industry. Clinton, who is founding chairman of the Clinton Global Initiative, was a featured

NEW YORK—This week, as New York City and the rest of the nation are commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a Manhattan audiologist is doing his part to pay tribute to the thousands of first responders who risked their lives at Ground Zero. Dominick Servedio, AuD, is partnering with the hearing aid manufacturer Unitron, and the Feal Good Foundation to

WASHINGTON, DC–According to a nationwide survey, 59% of the people with hearing loss who have chosen not to purchase hearing aids say they have made that decision because, in their opinion, hearing aids don’t work. However, the Better Hearing Institute (BHI) has recently released data from a national survey of more than 2000 hearing aid wearers, demonstrating that in the