美国国家公共电台 NPR Is It Time For Hearing Aids To Be Sold Over The Counter?

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some people with hearing loss want to change the rules so they can buy hearing aids over the counter at a local pharmacy¹. These would be stylish² earbuds that can help with mild to moderate hearing problems. Here's NPR's Patti Neighmond.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE³: Four out of 5 older Americans with hearing loss just ignore it, in part because a hearing aid is an unwelcomed sign of aging. But KR Liu, who has advocated for hearing help for years, says the fix could be as simple as buying stylish reading glasses.

KR LIU: Something that's hip⁴ and cool and people have multiple different pairs, and it's fashionable.

NEIGHMOND: Liu, who has severe hearing loss herself, works with a high-tech⁵ start-up, Doppler Labs. She helped design a device that will help anyone embarrassed about their hearing loss just blend in.

LIU: And if one person is wearing their technology to, you know, stream music or a phone call to turn down the world and another person is wearing it to amplify⁶ speech and hear their conversation, no one is going to know that that's why they're doing that. So you're wearing tech in your year proudly.

NEIGHMOND: It's a little circular device that sits in your ear. It can be adjusted to individual hearing using an app on a smartphone to control volume, cut out background noise or turn up the sound in a theater. It's pretty much a hearing aid, Liu says, except right now, federal regulations prohibit the company from saying that.

LIU: Which is kind of disappointing when, you know, there are people who come to us and say, you know, I want to try your product or I have used your product and have mild to moderate hearing loss, and it's changed my life.

NEIGHMOND: Current rules require a hearing specialist, like an audiologist, test your hearing and customize the hearing aid. It often takes numerous visits and costs thousands of dollars. Richard Einhorn, a well-known composer of modern classical music, knows that well. Seven years ago, he woke up at 5 a.m., his ears ringing with a loud, piercing hiss⁷.

RICHARD EINHORN: Obviously, I hit the panic button, and I jumped out of bed and immediately fell over onto the floor really hard.

NEIGHMOND: Einhorn suffered an inner ear infection that caused him to lose balance. He went deaf in his right ear. His hearing aids cost $5,000 and were not covered by insurance.

EINHORN: I'm a composer, for goodness sakes. This is not an easy purchase to scrounge up the money for.

NEIGHMOND: Einhorn is on the board of the Hearing Loss Association of America, which is pushing Congress to remove the requirement that hearing aids be dispensed⁸ only by an audio specialist. People with severe hearing loss would still need to be examined by a medical professional, but people with moderate hearing loss could buy hearing aids over the counter. This could lead to greater use. And that's a good thing, says Dr. Frank Lin, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at Johns Hopkins University. He's done numerous studies about the consequences of not treating hearing loss.

FRANK LIN: We're finding that the greater the hearing loss is actually the greater the risk of loss of thinking and memory abilities over time.

NEIGHMOND: Which often leads to social isolation⁹, a known risk factor for dementia. KR Liu says opening up the market will foster competition, drive prices down and encourage companies to come up with newer and better products. She envisions a future that solves one of the biggest problems, hearing in a noisy environment.

LIU: I would walk into a room, and all I would hear is what I want to hear - right? - is the person talking in front of me in a loud cocktail¹⁰ party. And I don't have a single distraction¹¹, and that technology is doing all the work for me. And I can enjoy the conversation. Nothing really exists like that today, but I very much see something like that down the road.

NEIGHMOND: Manufacturers of hearing aids oppose rolling back regulations. So do groups of audio specialists who argue consumers cannot properly customize their own device. But in an era where politicians don't seem to agree on anything, this bill has bipartisan support. Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF TEEN DAZE'S "TUNDRA")

1 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

2 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

5 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

6 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

7 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

8 dispensed   

v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药）

参考例句：

• Not a single one of these conditions can be dispensed with. 这些条件缺一不可。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage. 他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

10 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

11 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。