I wrote this comment to the editor of the Wall Street Journal and thought I would share it [Excerpt below] I appreciate the affordability problem, and I am all for development of a hearing aid of good quality for less money. I think the problem is representative of a larger health-care affordability problem in which low-income families can't afford good health care. I'm of the opinion that the hearing aid is device to treat a medical problem (hearing loss) and should be treated as such with appropriate medical care. After sending this letter, I read the thorough response by Gil Magilen, which provides many cogent arguments. Hear, Hear! This a comment on an article by Ann Zimmerman entitled Debate over hearing aid prices heats up I'd ... question the quality of device that can be obtained for $100. It is not merely a question of sound quality but mostly how much benefit the device provides in the environment in which the hearing-impaired person uses it. If it could be shown that this device provides equivalent objective and subjective benefit as the more expensive models in a variety of natural and cocktail-party like conditions across a large number of people with a variety of hearing losses without individual fitting of the shell or individual fitting of the amplification, then it might be reasonable. I think a researcher would be hard pressed to show this with a variety of hearing losses (a sampling that would encompass those that might buy an OTC hearing aid). In fact, with any kind of reasonable sample of hearing-impaired people, I'm almost certain that one would not be able to show an OTC device would perform as well because individual fitting of ampflication would be required to maximize the audible sound available to the user. Without this individual fitting, users might get benefit, but something less than is possible with individualized fittings. Finally, if a potential buyer has a hearing loss that's more severe than the model would be suitable for, how would the person know without proper medical evaluation? Such a device might be adequate for some, but without proper evaluation, the public will not know if they are getting appropriate treatment. Ward R. Drennan, Ph. D. Kresge Hearing Research Institute Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Phone: (734)763-5159 Fax: (734)764-0014 ------- End of forwarded message -------
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