After a long delay, the Food and Drug Administration issued final regulations Aug. 16, 2022, for over-the-counter hearing aids. The final rule is effective 60 days from its publication, meaning that consumers could see OTC hearing aids hitting the shelves of community pharmacies nationwide by October 2022.
We are a pharmacist and audiologist who study the potential ways Americans with hearing loss can obtain OTC hearing aids. In a market dominated by only a handful of manufacturers, hearing aids that are now available without a prescription will expand access to the estimated 28.8 million U.S. adults who could benefit from their use.
