New Computer-based Screening Tool Helps Individuals Make Informed Decisions on Hearing Care
One formidable challenge associated with the rapidly aging baby-boomer population is accurately screening for (and referring to physicians) infrequent, but potentially catastrophic cases of ear disease from the highly prevalent condition of benign hearing loss. The challenge is particularly vexing because of the bottleneck that exists for older adults to undergo a hearing test or…
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CBS Sunday Morning Turns Up the Volume on Hearing Aids
The evolving hearing aid industry was the subject of a nearly 10-minute in-depth feature on CBS Sunday Morning. David Pogue, tech critic for Yahoo Finance, talked to several respected industry figures, including Starkey executives Bill Austin and Achin Bhowmik, about recent technological breakthroughs in hearing aids. A substantial portion of the television news magazine piece…
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Company Selling Hearing Amplifiers Settles with FTC Over Charges of Deceptive Advertising
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced this week that it is settling charges against a group of Florida business entities, and its owner, over deceptive advertising claims for the MSA 30x sound amplifier device. The company had claimed in advertising that the device is “independently tested to help you hear up…
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Noise is the New Secondhand Smoke
New York City, American’s largest metropolis, fields about 50,000 non-emergency, 311 calls each day, and the No. 1 complaint is noise. In a city whose cacophony can reach 95 dB in midtown Manhattan — way above the federal government’s recommended average of no more than 70 dB — the commotion over all that racket involves…
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Oticon Opens Nominations for 20th Annual Focus on People Awards
SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY — Oticon Inc, announced this week a call for nominations for the 2018 Focus on People Awards. The awards, now in their 20th year, honor students, adults, and hearing loss advocates that demonstrate that “hearing loss doesn’t hinder one’s ability to make a difference in the world”. “Over the past 20…
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Government Reimbursement for OTC Hearing Devices Gaining Attention
Australian-based wireless earbud company, Nuheara, which recently announced product expansions and a unique partnership with the National Acoustics Laboratories and HEARing CRC, also made news last month when they reportedly petitioned the FDA to expedite the implementation of the Over-the Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Act legislation, signed into law by President Trump in August 2017.…
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UPDATE: Walgreen’s Hearing Re-emerges with Two Twin City Locations
In what appeared to be an unsuccessful “proof of concept” project in 2015 between Walgreens and Sonova, a similar venture, this time involving Starkey, is underway inside two Walgreen’s locations in the Twin Cities. Similar to CVS, which has been opening hearing aid center locations throughout the US for more than a year, Walgreen’s appears…
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Hearing Tracker Acquires Hearing Aid Forums
During the last week of August, Hearing Tracker, a leading resource for consumer information about hearing technology and related services, announced the acquisition of Hearing Aid Forums. With over 190,000 posts and 10,000 registered users, Hearing Aid Forums is one of the largest consumer-oriented websites in the world. The new forum with several new technical…
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US Senate Passes OTC Hearing Aid Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC — The US Senate passed the FDA Reauthorization Act today. The legislation, as reported previously, contains a provision that directs the FDA to develop a category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. A House version of the bill was passed last month. The OTC provision of…
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Consumer Technology Association Unveils New Logo for OTC Hearing Aids at HLAA Convention
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) released a new logo for the potential new category of over-the-counter hearing aids for consumers with mild to moderate hearing loss. CTA unveiled the new logo at the annual convention of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), held last week in Salt Lake City,…
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