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The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

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Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#131

Post by vburg »

tristor wrote: post #84
xmprt wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One pretty big (and relatively unknown) law is that your doctor needs to give you your vision prescription so you can buy glasses elsewhere (usually for much cheaper). I think a lot of them get around this by letting you look for glasses while waiting and not telling you that this law exists.

The bigger issue is that a prescription alone is not enough to order new glasses, you also need pupillary distance measurements in order to ensure the lenses are ground correctly. Many many optometrists will not provide these, only the legally obligated prescription. While for most people who have minimum prescriptions you can use a phone app or similar to get a rough PD, for anyone with serious prescriptions even mi…

They made me sign a waiver then gave me the wrong measurements.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#132

Post by m463 »

JCM9 wrote: post #55

There are a number of healthcare areas in the US that have been protected by regulation, but it’s increasingly unclear if this is good for patients, consumers, or public health at large. The increasing sentiment seems to be probably not. Vision care is another area I’d expect to see more changes and disruption coming down the pipeline. Vision care is very important and advanced cases require special skills, but it’s…

I missed a very critical vision deficiency with my child because I only did cursory vision checks when growing up.

I think this influenced the ability to see characters which greatly impacted reading ability.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#134

Post by throaway46546 »

bckygldstn wrote: post #82
xnyan wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I now just buy contacts online from Europe or New Zealand. I would love to do that, could you share which vendors you use?

I usually just search for "contact lenses EU", check they ship to US (most will list this in their FAQ) and pick the cheapest. Looking through my email receipts, I've used: lenstore.co.uk visiondirect.co.uk contactsexpress.ca specsavers.co.nz

I found it amusing that none of those are in the EU.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#135

Post by diob »

JCM9 wrote: post #55

There are a number of healthcare areas in the US that have been protected by regulation, but it’s increasingly unclear if this is good for patients, consumers, or public health at large. The increasing sentiment seems to be probably not. Vision care is another area I’d expect to see more changes and disruption coming down the pipeline. Vision care is very important and advanced cases require special skills, but it’s…

There are so many cost barriers to treatments. It's definitely not for patients at this point.

For instance, I am supposed to redo my sleep apnea test every so often. But it's out of pocket? Why bother, I know mine is due to my genetics (I'm not overweight). So why am I subjected to reproving my need for a prescription?

For eyeglasses, if someone wants to continue the same prescription they can't.

It's like healthcare in the USA is a damn subscription model with yearly fees to keep getting things just prescribed (let alone treatment on top).

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#136

Post by mixmastamyk »

14 wrote: post #59
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We really need prescriptions for headphones to save people from themselves.

I don’t know about that but if there was a quality headphone that limited how loud my kid can play things and stopped spikes of loud audio during the loud parts of movies I would buy it today.

iOS has volume limits in the control panel, partially helps.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#137

Post by jrace »

Damogran6 wrote: post #130

So do I…oddly, I went and got my hearing tested and my issues are with processing, not hearing. The guy said “I actually can’t prescribe you a hearing aid, even if I wanted to.” So, there should be some barrier to entry. Just not at $3500 an ear.

That is a very realy situation for most people.

A hearing aid - AIDS you in hearing, but your brain does the processing and speech comprehension.

if you start wearing a hearing aid now you will just get lazier with your "hearing". Just like if your knees are sore, and you get a knee brace - when you should have done exercises to improve your muscles supporting your knee - the brace will do more harm than good.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#138

Post by elliekelly »

xmprt wrote: post #71
JCM9 wrote: post #55

There are a number of healthcare areas in the US that have been protected by regulation, but it’s increasingly unclear if this is good for patients, consumers, or public health at large. The increasing sentiment seems to be probably not. Vision care is another area I’d expect to see more changes and disruption coming down the pipeline. Vision care is very important and advanced cases require special skills, but it’s…

One pretty big (and relatively unknown) law is that your doctor needs to give you your vision prescription so you can buy glasses elsewhere (usually for much cheaper). I think a lot of them get around this by letting you look for glasses while waiting and not telling you that this law exists.

The law specifies they have to give you the paper prescription (for no extra charge beyond the cost of the exam) even if you don’t ask for it. There’s no getting around it. Either they give you the prescription after your exam or they’re not compliant with the law. Consumer ignorance or apathy isn’t a valid defense.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#139

Post by jrace »

jleyank wrote: post #64

Having worn hearing aids a long time (don't turn sh*t up to 11), I should point out that they require setting per-ear and one can have multiple programs (voice, music, ...). My fear of rechargeable aids is that with serious+ loss they'd burn through batteries in a (very) short time and if they're not replaceable it makes the aids disposable. Fitting is helpful as it's also done for mid-high earphones. This will have…

"And my attempt at bluetooth connectivity for phone calls failed as the things could not stay sync'd during conversations. Better to just use a headset. "

And that is what you should use the money you paid for....getting proper follow up and adjustments, including making your BT work.

BT and hearing aids have been used for over 10 years.

Re: The FDA wants you to be able to buy a hearing aid without a prescription

#140

Post by jrace »

frabcus wrote: post #86

Does this relate in any way to us getting cheaper hearing aids? A pair of bluetooth streaming rechargable ones is about $3000. With Transparency mode and the latest software for AirPod pros, you can adjust the frequency distribution, and get what seem to be servicable hearing aids for $250. What I'd like is proper (medical) assessment and fitting, but of cheaper commodity aids that are much much better made with bett…

The tech in the hearing aids is cheap.

it is the fitting and follow up where the money you spend should be going. -- that and repairs and regular maintenance.

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