Hearing News Watch

DENVER–A Denver mother whose daughter was born with microtia, a congenital condition in which the outer ear is underdeveloped or absent, has launched a web site to offer support to families around the world who face the same situation. About 1 in every 6000 children is born with microtia or aural atresia, another congenital deformity of the ear. The conditions

By David H. Kirkwood WASHINGTON, DC–A coalition of 19 organizations concerned with hearing loss and other disabilities has called upon U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius to define coverage of hearing aids as an essential health benefit (EHB) nationwide In their letter, e-mailed on January 31, the petitioners state, “The Affordable Care Act (ACA) explicitly required

WASHINGTON, DC—Executives with United Healthcare (UHC) and its subsidiary, hi HealthInnovations, held a series of meetings last week with leaders of professional organizations that have been strongly critical of its newly introduced direct-to-consumer hearing aid distribution model Since the beginning of January, the company has been selling hearing aids directly to consumers, without any involvement by qualified hearing professionals. The

PLYMOUTH, MN—After less than a month as vice-president of hearing health at hi HealthInnovations, Jerry Yanz, PhD, decided to leave that job and return to his former position as director of audiology at Hansaton Acoustics. As was reported on this blog on January 2,  Yanz was hired by hi HealthInnovations to help introduce the company’s line of hearing products that

INDIANAPOLIS—The New York Giants weren’t the only big winners here during Super Bowl week. Also coming out on top were 235 hard-of-hearing children and adults from the Indianapolis area. That’s because they received the gift of hearing during the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s third annual Super Bowl Week Hearing Mission held February 3 at the city’s SportZone restaurant. An all-star lineup

EVANSTON, IL–When it comes to the relationships between musicians and hearing, things can get pretty complicated. As Pete Townshend of The Who and many other old rockers have told us, playing music too loudly for too long without proper protection destroys hearing. And even classical musicians are known to be risk for noise-induced hearing loss. On the other hand, people

BOSTON—The American Academy of Audiology (AAA) came up with a perfect match between venue and topic for its 2012 Academy Research Conference. The conference will be held March 28 in Boston, a day before the start of AudiologyNOW 2012. And the subject will be noise-induced hearing loss. Why are Boston and NIHL such a perfect combination? Because Boston boasts of–or

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s law licensing hearing aid dispensers dodged a bullet last week when a bill that would have deregulated dispensers and several other occupations was withdrawn. The proposed law would have eliminated a number of state boards, including not only the Committee of Indiana Hearing Aid Dealers, but also agencies regulating dietitians, cosmetologists, barbers security guards, and private investigators. Financially strapped

HOUSTON—Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Cord Blood Registry® (CBR) will undertake the first FDA-approved, Phase I safety study on the use of cord blood to restore hearing in babies who have sustained hearing loss post-natally. The year-long study, which will involve 10 patients, ages 6 weeks to 18 months, will use stem cells taken from each child’s own stored umbilical

WASHINGTON–A class action lawsuit filed on January 18 charges Siemens Hearing Instruments, Inc., with engaging in a fraudulent scheme to drive down the price of HearUSA common stock in an attempt to acquire the assets of the Florida-based network of hearing care practices for less than their fair market value. The action was brought by the Washington-based law firm Hausfeld