Over-the-counter hearing aids largely yet to arrive in Santa Fe

Oct. 19—As a new federal rule took effect this week allowing sales of over-the-counter hearing aids at prices sharply lower than prescription versions, Santa Feans in search of the devices were likely to come up empty-handed.

Most pharmacies in the city were not yet stocked with the hearing aids on the first day of sales Monday, and one Walgreens store already had its new devices stolen.

The news was disappointing to Jimmy Romero, who visited Santa Fe from Dixon on Monday and wanted to buy an over-the-counter hearing aid at the Walgreens as a birthday present for his father.

"He has a $5,000 hearing aid, but it's not working right," Romero said.

An employee at the store on St. Francis Drive said somebody had broken into a locked cabinet where the $799 devices were held and stole two of them. Replacements are expected later this week.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule in August to allow over-the-counter sales by mid-October, five years after Congress passed the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 in an effort to drastically lower the cost of hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

Prescription hearing aids typically cost $4,000 to $6,000.

That compares with products ranging in price from $499 to $799 at the Walmart Supercenter on the city's south side. The store had four versions of HearingAssist hearing aids in its Vision Center.

A Walgreens on Airport Road has hearing aids available, but customers won't find them on store shelves. They're locked up in back, the store manager said.

A Walgreens on Zia Road has a secure space set aside for the devices, but they haven't yet arrived.

Nambe Drugs, a local pharmacy, is waiting for a green light from its supplier.

"We haven't gotten an update if they are available to us," Nambe pharmacist Jason Solano said. "As soon as they become available to us, we will carry them."

Best Buy does not stock hearing aids, but the devices can be ordered and delivered to the Santa Fe store.

Meanwhile, the Albertsons and Market Street stores in Santa Fe aren't likely to offer the products.

"At this time, we have no immediate plans to offer hearing aids over the counter," said Joey Marcades, a spokesman for The United Family, a Lubbock subsidiary of Albertsons that operates stores in much of New Mexico.

Despite the lack of supply in Santa Fe, Barbara Fix, co-founder of the Santa Fe chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America, called the launch of over-the-counter sales of hearing aids "a real benefit."

"I think, on the whole, we look forward to [over-the-counter hearing aids], especially for people who can't afford [prescription hearing aids]," she said.

The FDA reported about 30 million adults in the U.S. could benefit from hearing aid use.

"They are not meant for children or for adults who have more severe hearing loss or significant difficulty hearing," the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reported. "If you have more severe hearing loss, OTC hearing aids might not be able to amplify sounds at high enough levels to help you."

The institute said people with mild to moderate hearing loss generally experience the following symptoms:

* Speech or other sounds seem muffled.

* You have trouble hearing when you're in a group, in a noisy area, on the phone or when you can't see who is talking.

* You have to ask others to speak more slowly or clearly, to talk louder or to repeat what they said.

* You turn up the volume higher than other people prefer when watching TV or listening to the radio or music.

"I would say you can hear but not always understand," said Dr. Alexandra Smith, an audiologist at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. "Many people with hearing difficulties have problems with background noise."

Smith and fellow Christus St. Vincent lead audiologist Dr. Jayna Adams favor the national push toward more affordable, nonprescription hearing aids.

"I would say it's a much-anticipated day," Smith said of over-the-counter hearing aids arriving on the market. "It changes how some people obtain hearing devices."

Smith and Adams believe demand for audiology services will not decrease even though people do not need to consult with a doctor to obtain an over-the-counter device.

"We're just trying to get people into hearing devices," Adams said. "Ultimately, we want people to hear better."