Hearing News Watch

MADISON, WI—Rayovac, the world’s largest manufacturer of hearing aid batteries, will invest millions of additional dollars in research and development and to expand its manufacturing plants, its parent company, Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., announced on August 23. According to Spectrum Brands, the additional investment will support product enhancements and new cell manufacturing and packaging lines, and will ensure that Rayovac’s

ROCKVILLE, MD–Neil J. DiSarno, PhD, CCC-A, began work this week as chief staff officer for audiology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the organization announced on August 20. DiSarno, who for the past 14 years chaired the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Missouri State University, succeeds Vic Gladstone, PhD, who retired in April after more than 15 years in

RESTON, VA/ROCKVILLE, MD/LEXINGTON, KY–In a rare display of cooperation, America’s three largest organizations of audiologists sent a joint statement to their respective members last week, urging them to be mindful of and responsive to the ongoing “paradigm shift to consumer-driven health care.” The communiqué, e-mailed August 16 to audiologists belonging to the American Academy of Audiology, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,

WASHINGTON, DC—The decision by the influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force not to recommend that primary-care physicians routinely screen asymptomatic adults over age 50 for hearing loss (see last week’s post on Hearing News Watch) has provoked disapproval and incredulity from an AARP blogger. In her latest Personal Health and Well-being column, on AARP Blog, entitled “I Can’t Believe What I’m Hearing:

By David H. Kirkwood ROCKVILLE, MD—While many thousands of hearing care providers and people in the hearing industry will undoubtedly disagree, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) stated this week that it has found insufficient evidence to recommend that physicians screen for hearing loss among patients 50 years and older without symptoms of hearing loss. Specifically, the task force

SPRINGFIELD IL—Kathleen C.M. Campbell, PhD, one of America’s leading researchers on the causes of hearing loss and ways to address  it, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for a study to determine optimal dosages and timing of dosages of D-methionine (D-met) for protection and rescue from noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Campbell, a professor

BOSTON—After several years of lobbying by the Massachusetts Hearing Aids for Children Coalition and other advocates, a bill was signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday (August 7) that will make hearing aids more affordable for parents of hard-of-hearing children in Massachusetts. The new law, “An Act to Provide Access to Hearing Aids for Children,” requires that private insurers

TACOMA, WA—A deaf crime victim who called 911 to report being attacked in her home ended up being shot by police with a Taser, arrested, and left in jail for more than two days without an interpreter, according to an August 5 report by Chris Halsne, an investigative reporter with KIRO-TV in Tacoma. She was finally released, without an apology,

   ST.PAUL–Actors, athletes, astronauts, musicians, and a former President of the United States were among the scores of celebrities who took part August 4 at the 12th annual So the World May Hear Gala, which raised a record-breaking $7.6 million for the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Founded by Bill Austin, principal owner of Starkey Hearing Technology, the foundation donates more than 100,000

SAN FRANCISCO–Injection of a gene into the inner ear of mice born with genetic hearing loss was found to restore the laboratory animals’ hearing within two weeks of the treatment, according to a preclinical research study published in the July 26 issue of the journal Neuron. The experiment was conducted by Lawrence Lustig, PhD, and colleagues at the University of