Hearing aid firm to change ads.

Byline: ED RUSSO The Register-Guard

A hearing aid company with 11 Oregon outlets, including one in Springfield, has agreed to change advertising after the state attorney general's office said the company misled consumers by implying that hearing aids would be paid for by workers compensation.

Under the agreement, Sounds of Life Hearing Centers Inc., based in Las Vegas, Nev., must clear any future ads regarding hearing aids and workers compensation with the Oregon Health Licensing Office. Sounds of Life, which owns Hearing Aid Counselors Inc. in Gateway Mall, also must disclose that hearing aid dealers are not experts in determining eligibility for workers compensation benefits, Attorney General Hardy Myers said.

"Luring consumers into a purchase with misleading promises that their hearing loss will be covered by workers compensation is unconscionable," Myers said.

Sounds of Life Chief Executive James Piccolo said his firm's ads were not misleading, and that he only agreed to clear ads with state officials and make a $7,500 payment to the state's consumer protection and education fund to settle the matter.

One of the company's ads read, in part: "If you think your hearing loss was caused by loud noise at work, you may be eligible for benefits, including hearing aids ... . Call today to make an appointment to find out if you qualify."

Piccolo, who denied that employees pre-sold hearing aids before a workers compensation claim was approved, said he will slightly change the wording of his ads. "Nowhere in the ad do I claim to be an expert on the law," he said.