The move comes shortly after the US Food and Drug Administration announced a long-awaited rule change in August pertaining to hearing aids.
The retailer said shoppers can now buy the OTC hearing aids on Walmart.com and in Walmart Vision Centers in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. It plans to soon make them available to additional Walmart Vision Centers nationwide. The company currently operates more than 3,000 Vision Centers across the country. An estimated 1 in 8 people in the US ages 12 and older have hearing loss in both ears, and the rate increases significantly with age.