Hearing News Watch

By David H. Kirkwood The International Hearing Society (IHS) and at least two major hearing aid manufacturers have taken strong stands against the sale of hearing aids directly to consumers. As Hearing News Watch reported in posts on September 20 and October 5, two companies—hi HealthInnovations (a UnitedHealthcare company) and Audiotoniq—have announced that they will begin selling hearing aids to

WASHINGTON, DC—A forum for those concerned with how best to prevent occupational hearing loss will be held here on Thursday, November 3 starting at 9 am. Hosted by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the informal public meeting is intended to provide a forum for stakeholders and gather information from them on best practices for hearing conservation programs,

KITCHENER, ONTARIO–Jan Metzdorff, who has been in charge of Unitron’s international sales, was promoted to president, the company has announced.   Unitron, a member of the Sonova group, also reported that the technologies, service, and distribution of Sona, another Sonova company launched in 2010, have been transferred to it. Metzdorff has been an executive in the hearing healthcare industry for

DEEPHAVEN, MN—Kenneth Dahlberg, who as founder of Miracle-Ear helped shape the hearing aid industry in the 20th century, died October 4 at his home here. Dahlberg, a decorated hero of World War II, was 94. Though he gained fame in other areas as well, the former Wisconsin farm boy was a leading light in the hearing care world for decades.

MINNETONKA, MN–Hi HealthInnovations™, a Twin Cities company, has begun offering hearing aids ranging in retail price from $749 to $949. The division of UnitedHealth Group said in an October 3 announcement that it will make its “suite of high-tech, lower cost hearing devices” available directly to consumers. It stated, “Similar hearing devices typically cost consumers thousands of dollars.” Along with

WARSAW, POLAND—As Marshall Chasin wrote recently on his Hear the Music blog, “Older musicians experience less age-related decline in hearing abilities than non-musicians.” However, that doesn’t mean they can’t get too much of a good thing. Musicians who are overexposed to the sound of music often suffer hearing loss. While this condition is especially prevalent among aging rockers, more traditional

INDIANAPOLIS–Tamika Catchings became the latest in a long line of great athletes who didn’t let hearing loss stop them from reaching the pinnacle of their profession. On September 22, the star forward of the Indiana Fever was named the 2011 Most Valuable Player in the Woman’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). For Catchings, who was born with a binaural hearing loss,

This is a revised version of the item first posted on September 26. PITTSBURGH—Karen Piper, an English professor at the University of Missouri, has sued the City of Pittsburgh, claiming that its police department’s improper use of of a crowd-dispersal tool has caused her permanent hearing loss and other damage to her ears. Piper, who brought the case in Federal

BONITA SPRINGS, FL—Sign up early to “rock the boat” is the message being sent out to audiologists by the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA). ADA is talking about its 2011 Convention, being held November 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort in Bonita Springs. This year’s theme is “Rock the Boat: How to Practice, Manage and Lead in

LOS ANGELES—A free service that can help millions of Americans with hearing loss communicate better long-distance was introduced September 22 at the AARP National Event & Expo. Sorenson Communications, a Salt Lake City-based company, announced the national launch of CaptionCall®, designed for anyone who has difficulty hearing on the telephone. Similar to captioned television, CaptionCall uses advanced voice-recognition technology and