Hear! Hear! No-Rx aids

The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday adopted a final rule on Tuesday to create a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids that can be sold directly to millions of Americans.

The FDA said the rules, which take effect in mid-October, should cut the costs of hearing aids for people with perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment. The aids will be available directly from stores or online without a medical exam, prescription or fitting adjustment by an audiologist.

The rule follows a directive in President Biden’s broad competition executive order signed in June 2021, which had told the Health and Human Services Department to “promote the wide availability of lowcost hearing aids,” among many other directives aimed at a wide variety of industries.