The following is an excerpt from the FDA Consumer Health Information fact sheet by the same name. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new Web site that will benefit current and potential users of hearing aids. FDA regulates hearing aids, which it defines as sound-amplifying devices designed to aid people who have impaired hearing. “People who already use a hearing aid know that selecting the right one is not a simple process,” says Eric Mann, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of FDA’s Division of Ophthalmic, Neurological, and Ear, Nose, and Throat Devices. “There are many issues to consider. Also, current users of hearing aids want to know about the latest types and technology, and how to properly maintain the ones they already have.” While more than 35 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss, a 2004 survey conducted by the National Hearing Institute found that slightly more than 11 […]

You’ve likely seen them advertised on television—small electronic sound amplifiers that allow users to enjoy nighttime TV without disturbing sleepers, or to hear their toddlers from many yards away. But do you know the difference between hearing aids and personal sound amplifiers? While these personal sound amplifiers may help people hear things that are at low volume or at a distance, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to ensure that consumers don’t mistake them—or use them as substitutes—for approved hearing aids. “Hearing aids and personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) can both improve our ability to hear sound,” says Eric Mann, M.D., Ph.D, deputy director of FDA’s Division of Ophthalmic, Neurological, And Ear, Nose, and Throat Devices. “They are both wearable, and some of their technology and function is similar.” Mann notes, however, that the products are different in that only hearing aids are intended to make up for impaired […]