LETTER: FDA and hearing aids
The U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Your Aug. 19 editorial on the FDA and hearing aids was right on the money. I wear hearing aids myself and have always wondered why they remained so expensive. When I read (in your piece) that four companies control 84 percent of the market, I began to understand.
I have seen advertisements for over-the-counter solutions but do not trust them. I hope that we will be able to get high-quality instruments at greatly reduced cost.
As you point out, untreated hearing loss in the elderly is a factor in increased isolation, which is associated with dementia. Everyone’s hearing loss is a little different; that’s why an audiologist will program the hearing aids to boost frequencies in proportion to the amount of loss in each.
