Re:The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without...
by TaylorAlexander on Tuesday October 19, 2021 @05:32PM
(#28924031)
These are good points. I was wondering about the costs of the doctor's visits, but you're right we should perhaps make those optional.
I realized one thing that would help is "open hardware". If you're supposed to see a doctor to measure and tune some value maybe a device with an open interface and an app would suffice (which I think others here mentioned today).
The reason I asked about the cost of the doctor is I am interested in doing things like giving them free school in order to lower their need to charge high prices. Generally I would rather every person has a good local doctor they can see for free, but we could also deregulate these devices and let people sort out amongst themselves how to get the right fit. I would just want to take care that people aren't damaging their hearing further with improper use.
No. Hunters (and shooters) have been buying electronic ear protection for years at much lower prices. There is no FDA approval, and they are not needed so the manufactures have to compete. The result is hearing aids in everything but the FDA approval. Some people find they work better than hearing aids because the manufactures have to tune them to work well for their customers which means background noise reduction (not just gun noise reduction)
Don't get me wrong, those who are borderline find the hunters hearing protection better. If your hearing is very bad you need expert tuning for just year ears, and that can't be offered without FDA approval.
The high end ones are $200, and internally pretty much the same thing other than the programming. The cheap ones are $30 (but not programmable)