Lucid Hearing is offering its over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids to consumers in more than 450 Sam's Club locations nationwide starting today.
An August ruling finalized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) opens up a market for OTC hearing devices, a long-awaited industry event for which Lucid Hearing has been preparing for years.
"We're ready and excited to offer consumers affordable and accessible hearing aids that comply with all FDA regulations and provide those with hearing impairments a broad range of designs and product features," said Lucid Hearing President and COO Jason Kidd. "Our technology for these devices has been in the making for years and is based on research done in conjunction with the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), a top audiology research university."
The FDA ruling allows for consumers ages 18+ to purchase hearing aids for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss without a medical visit, an audiogram test or prescription. While testing is not required for OTC hearing aids, most hearing experts agree that a hearing test is the best way for consumers to accurately measure their degree of hearing loss and determine which product offers the right support for their needs (an OTC product or a prescriptive hearing aid).
Lucid Hearing offers free hearing tests for people age 19+ at more than 500 hearing centers across the nation, most located inside Sam's Club locations. Lucid's OTC hearing aids will generally range in price from $199.99 to $1,699.99 and can be purchased through Sam's Club both in-club and online, plus other retail outlets and through Amazon and lucidhearing.com. Sam's Club pricing for Lucid's OTC hearing aids will range from $199 to $799.
Executive Vice President of Research and Development Bennett Griffin noted that the company's OTC hearing aids will offer numerous features including wireless streaming and varied styles including discreet in-ear offerings. He added that Lucid's investment in scientific and pre-set programs developed as a result of the UTD audiology research offer a unique advantage in that they will cover the vast majority of consumers' perceived mild to moderate hearing loss needs.
