084 - OTC Hearing Aids: Consumer Perspective on the FDA Issuing Final Regulations

On August 17, 2022, the FDA issued its landmark 'final rule' to establish a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids in the United States. This will now enable consumers with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss to purchase hearing aids directly from stores or online retailers without the need for a medical exam, prescription or a fitting adjustment by a hearing professional.    In this special episode we bring the opinions of four hearing loss advocates on what OTC means for consumers and how they anticipate the new OTC hearing aid market will develop over time:   *Barbara Kelley, HLAA  *Shari Eberts  *Gael Hannan  *Andy Bellavia   We also sought out opinions from consumers and from the hearing device industry, which can be viewed here:   Professional Perspective on OTC: https://youtu.be/5IE0TwZ54kc Industry Perspective on OTC: https://youtu.be/Dtk3gTT35PE