An innovative laser treatment for early vocal-cord cancer, developed at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), successfully restores patients' voices without radiotherapy or traditional surgery, which can permanently damage vocal quality.

Inflammation of the inner ear (OM) is extremely common in children as well as affecting quite a few adults. Recurrent, protracted ear inflammation causes severe pain, restlessness and muffled hearing, which can hamper development and prejudice learning. Ear inflammation is one of the main reasons for visiting the doctor or the emergency room.

Deaf Child Worldwide, the only UK-based international development agency dedicated to enabling deaf children to overcome poverty and isolation, has launched a new action learning resource to help organisations working with deaf children and families throughout the world.

Ernest Moore, an audiologist and cell biologist at Northwestern University, developed tinnitus -- a chronic ringing and whooshing sound in his ears -- twenty years ago after serving in the U.S. Army reserves medical corps. His hearing was damaged by the crack of too many M16 rifles and artillery explosions. He suspects his hearing also suffered from hunting opossum with rifles as a kid on his grandmother's farm in Tennessee.

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISPH) announced that its Phase 3 trial with epinastine nasal spray for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) did not meet its primary endpoint. "Our analysis of the overall data in this program and the current competitive environment in allergic rhinitis indicate that epinastine nasal spray does not show potential to meet our desired product profile in the United States," stated Christy L. Shaffer, Ph.D.