Feel like the year slipped away too quickly? Or maybe you were so put-off by the news in 2018 that it even crept into your reading about the world of hearing healthcare. If that’s the case, here’s some great news: We’ve put together a list of those news articles you should have read (Editor’s Picks) as well as a list of articles that were most frequently visited online (by both consumers and hearing care professionals) during the past year. Here they are:
Editor’s Picks for News Articles in 2018
In chronological order:
- Hearing Aid Unit Sales Grow by 3.4% in 2017 (January 17, 2018)
- Energizer Holdings Inc to Purchase Spectrum Brands’ Battery and Portable Lighting Business for $2 Billion (January 18, 2018)
- Marcon and AuDNet Merge to Form AUDNET Hearing Group (AHG) (January 30, 2018)
- IntriCon Announces Sales Gains of 29.9% for 2017 (February 14, 2018)
- Walgreens and Starkey Collaborate on Walgreens Hearing; Unique Expansion Program for Current Practice Owners (March 12, 2018
- Starkey Trial: Jury Finds Ruzicka and Taylor Guilty; Miller and Hagen Not Guilty (March 8, 2018)
- Letters: Costco Replies to Hearing Review Article “The Costco Effect” (March 15, 2018)
- Audiology Patient Choice Act Introduced by Senators Warren and Paul (March 21, 2018)
- Etymotic Research Merges with Lucid Hearing/Lucid Audio (March 21, 2018)
- Sivantos Acquires TruHearing (April 6, 2018)
- Blamey Saunders Hears Launches Facett Hearing Aid (April 11, 2018)
- Renewed Controversy at AAA 2018 about the Audiology Patient Choice Act (April 24, 2018)
- Sivantos and Widex Announce Plans to Merge (May 16, 2018)
- ‘Yanny’ or ‘Laurel’ Audio Clip Yields Differing Responses (May 17, 2018)
- 25 Years of Mergers and Acquisitions in Hearing Healthcare (May 23, 2018)
- US DOL Reinstates National Guideline Standards for Hearing Aid Specialists (May 25, 2018)
- Unitron US Announces New Internal Leadership Appointments (June 15, 2018)
- Starkey Shifts to Global R&D Approach; Closes Berkeley SHRC (July 14, 2018)
- Amplifon to Purchase GAES Group for $616 Million (July 25, 2018)
- FDA Issues Letter to “OTC Hearing Aid” Manufacturers (July 25, 2018)
- 3M to Pay $9.1 Million Settlement for Selling Defective Earplugs to Military (July 31, 2018)
- FCC Proposes Automating Phone Captioning (August 1, 2018)
- William Demant and Philips Enter into Hearing Aid Branding Partnership (August 3, 2018)
- Samsung Announces Hearing Loss Detection App and New Initiative (August 6, 2018)
- OTC Hearing Aid Consensus Statement Published by AAA, ADA, IHS, and ASHA (August 14, 2018)
- Starkey Ushers in New Era of Sensor and AI-driven Hearing Aids with Livio AI (August 28, 2018)
- Sivantos Launches New Form Factor with Signia Styletto SLIM RIC (August 27, 2018)
- Researchers Compare Hearing App Users’ Customization Settings to a Prescriptive Fitting (September 16, 2018)
- After OTC, Focus Should Be on Clinical Hearing Services, Says JAMA Article (September 19, 2018)
- New Study Shows 4 in 5 Patients Prefer Hearing Aid Fittings with REM (September 24, 2018)
- Widex Announces Fiscal Year-End Gains; Strategy to Double Size in 5 Years (September 27, 2018)
- HearScreen USA App to Be Launched by AAA and hearX Group (October 3, 2018)
- FDA Approves First Self-fit Hearing Aid; Grants ‘De Novo’ Status to Bose Hearing Aid (October 5, 2018)
- $69 Billion CVS and Aetna Merger Approved by DOJ (October 12, 2018)
- Phonak Launches Marvel with Universal Binaural Streaming and New Level of Sound Quality (October 16, 2018)
- Blog: Gleanings from Bose Leaders about the Bose Hearing Aid (October 18, 2018)
- New Self-fitting Hearing Aid Class and Special Controls Described by FDA Letter (October 21, 2018)
- Sandy Brandmeier Joins Sonova Wholesale US as New President (November 1, 2018)
- Will Hearing Aid Sales Top 4 Million Units in 2018? (November 14, 2018)
- Patients with Untreated Hearing Loss May Incur Higher Total Health Care Costs (November 9, 2018)
- FDA Announces Revamping of Product Approvals and 510(k) Program (November 28, 2018)
- Nuheara Enters Contract with UK’s National Health Service (NHS) for IQbuds Boost (November 29, 2018)
- Starkey Releases World’s First Hearing Aid with Fall Detection and Alerts to Livio AI Users (December 18, 2018)
- GN Appoints Jakob Gudbrand CEO of GN Hearing (December 17, 2018)
- Beltone Appoints Monte Dillow as President (December 18, 2018)
Passings: Jerry Laux, Jay McSpaden, Andy Rihs, Creig Dunckel, Sallie Frye, and Rich Burba
Google’s Picks: Top-15 Most Popular Hearing Review Online News Articles in 2018
The following is a list of the Hearing Review news articles with the greatest number of online visitors in 2018. Editor’s Note: Because this list is based COMPLETELY on the number of online readers, those articles published in the early months of the year have a large advantage over those published later in the year (in fact, only four articles published after August appears on the list). Additionally, because consumers—who vastly outnumber hearing care professionals—often search for information about specific products online, product-specific articles (eg, product launches and announcements) move to the top in these types of lists.
- Letters: Costco Replies to Hearing Review Article “The Costco Effect” (March 15, 2018)
- Starkey Launches Livio AI Hearing Aid with Integrated Sensors and Artificial Intelligence (August 28, 2018)
- Signia Launches Silk Nx Hearing Aids (April 20, 2018)
- Eargo Launches Eargo Max Hearing Device (January 12, 2018)
- Sivantos and Widex Announce Plans to Merge (May 16, 2018)
- GN Hearing Launches ReSound LiNX Quattro (August 13, 2018)
- Phonak Launches Marvel with Universal Binaural Streaming and New Level of Sound Quality (October 16, 2018)
- Sivantos Launches New Form Factor with Signia Styletto SLIM RIC (August 27, 2018)
- William Demant and Philips Enter into Hearing Aid Branding Partnership (August 3, 2018)
- Oticon Launches ConnectClip Connectivity Device (January 12, 2018)
- Blog: Gleanings from Bose Leaders about the Bose Hearing Aid (October 18, 2018)
- New Self-fitting Hearing Aid Class and Special Controls Described by FDA Letter (October 21,2018)
- FDA Issues Letter to “OTC Hearing Aid” Manufacturers (July 25, 2018)
- Expert Insight #3: How many hearing aids are now rechargeable, and what can a hearing aid user do to ensure the rechargeable battery lasts all day? (May 3, 2018)
- FDA Approves First Self-fit Hearing Aid; Grants ‘De Novo’ Status to Bose Hearing Aid (October 5, 2018)
NEXT WEEK: Top Hearing Review Articles and Features in 2018
Image: Maksim Pasko | Dreamstime.com
