Sign inHearing aid adverts facing a ban in France under the state health system
Issues of ethics, professional scope, and economics coincide in a debate in France that may see an advertising restriction for hearing devices offered under the state system.
Banned advertising for teleconsultations with a hearing aid specialist?
Photo: CC
Since 2012, spectacles and hearing aids have been exempted from a sweeping ban on advertising medical devices. This situation might be about to change. A ban has been proposed by CNAM (French National Health Insurance Fund), the French national health body as part of proposals to improve quality of the healthcare system while controlling expenditure for 2026.
The debate is old, but its revival comes against the backdrop of a 75% jump since 2019 in the number of people who have purchased hearing aids. The request to suppress advertising is regularly made by mutual insurance companies, which would see their part of the bill reduced.
The suggestion has been welcomed. Interviewed by Le Parisien, the VP of the Union of Hearing Aid Specialists (SDA), Luis Godinho, said he was in favour of this measure. "This is about health, not consumption: the ENT specialist writes a prescription, but the patient has no knowledge of how to choose the device; it is the hearing...
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