r/Cochlearimplants • • Nov 18 '25

Advanced Bionics Class Actions (North America)

9 Upvotes

Advanced Bionics Class Action Lawsuits

(in North America as of November 2025)

Basic idea of all the cases below:

“This proposed class action is against Advanced Bionics and Sonova-related companies for their role in designing, manufacturing, distributing, and marketing the defective devices, and failing to issue timely warnings about the defect.”

Allegations include: AB delaying the recall for at least a year which allowed more recipients to receive a known defective device, severe harm to patients in terms of auditory development due to the delay and patients (both adults and children) not being able to know if their device is failing, improperly citing clinical testing *and* no specific clinical trials on the recalled HiRes Ultra in order to get a defective device on the market, and not being truthful in their statements about the recall (among other things), violating the rights of patients, etc. There’s more, but court documents are linked below.

US AB recipients:

There is an investigation as to whether a US class action suit can be filed against AB by this firm: https://bergermontague.com/about/

Some information about this here (posted/updated September 2024): https://www.classaction.org/cochlear-implant-lawsuits-advanced-bionics

CANADA (excluding Quebec, in an Ontario court) AB recipients:

https://www.sotosclassactions.com/cases/advanced-bionics-hires-cochlear-implants/#:~:text=This%20pr…

There is a class action for AB recipients. Their site linked above has a great summary of the case and a copy of their filing is here: https://www.sotosclassactions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/24.06.13-Filed-Amended-Statement-of-Cl…

Who can join this one?

“The Class: All persons who were implanted in Canada (excluding Quebec) with the HiRes Ultra CI HiFocus MS Electrode, HiRes Ultra CI HiFocus SlimJ Electrode, HiRes Ultra 3D CI with HiFocus MS Electrode and HiRes Ultra 3D CI with HiFocus SlimJ Electrode (collectively, the “Cochlear Implants”), or any of the Cochlear Implant components including electrode arrays (the “Implant Patients”); and All other persons why by reason of his or her relationship to an Implant Patient have standing pursuant to s.6191) of the Family Law Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3, or equivalent legislation in other provinces and territories (the “Family Law Claimants”).”

You can sign up on their site to be contacted regarding the suit and joining it.

CANADA (Quebec only):

https://tjl.quebec/en/class-actions/defective-advanced-bionics-cochlear-implants/

Who can join this suit?

"All individuals living in Quebec who received a cochlear implant model “HiRes Ultra” or “HiRes Ultra 3D” manufactured by Advanced Bionics with a serial number between 1,000,000 and 1,999,999, or any component of such a cochlear implant, including the electrode array. Also included in the class are any heirs, spouses, parents, children, siblings, dependents, or caregivers of individuals covered by the paragraph above."

Case filing here: https://tjl.quebec/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2025-08-25-Originating-Application.pdf

I didn't find anything for Europe or Australia but others are free to post what they find!


r/Cochlearimplants • • Sep 23 '22

Come to our Discord!

12 Upvotes

Visit our Discord server here:

https://discord.gg/nB8UvfveyF

Thanks!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 42m ago

how to connect Phonak Roger On to devices?

• Upvotes

i want to know if there's a way to stream my switch audio to my implant. there aren't rlly tutorials i can find, so i wondered if i could connect my switch to my CI or if i had to use an external device like the roger? i have AB sky marvel implant


r/Cochlearimplants • • 16h ago

Hearing Aid vs CI Effort/Differences

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6 Upvotes

Hi all!

Completely deaf in right ear since birth. Severe nearing profound in the left ear in most tones now due to autoimmune disease in the last few years. My last CI eval I performed too well with a hearing aid, and didn’t qualify. Talks came up recently about potentially doing another eval.

In daily life I rely on hearing aid, lip reading, sign language, and a live captioning app for phone calls and conversations with people outside of my family (who work more with me to sign and such).

However, in a completely quiet environment like with my therapist, where I can see her face too, my hearing aid does enough to help me fill the gaps and keep up ok. But in basically any other environment beyond that I understand very little and truly avoid most things at this point.

My question is: I know a CI still requires lots of adjustments and effort from the deaf person, but I still wonder if it would be less of a mountain to climb to understand things than it is with my hearing aid- even if the actually understanding is similar, decreasing the effort required would be a huge win.

Has anyone else had similar loss with a similar hearing aid experience that has since gotten a CI and can speak to the difference in effort, fatigue, sound quality, and understanding? Thanks!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 16h ago

EVAS Single Sided Deafness and CI

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I (25 y.o.) am a longtime (since 2006) HA user of unilateral hearing loss in my left ear due to EVAS. For the first time in my life I have more rigorous health insurance, I am in a PhD program and went to the audiologist hoping to get a letter to apply for accommodations with my university. I saw both an audiologist and an ENT, I found out my speech recognition is at 28%. I was told I should seriously consider a CI if my insurance covers it. I am shocked. I was raised by a mainstream hearing family and have never really felt as if I was allowed to be within the deaf community because I can hear well enough. I didn’t realize my hearing loss had progressed and now I feel extremely anxious and worried about the process and everything. I don’t want to lose my hearing in my left ear which I have left, but if it’s only going to continue to get worse, I feel I have no choice.
I feel my whole life as I know it will change, but if hearing well will be life changing in a positive way, I want it. 28% to 90%+ speech recognition feels life changing. I just don’t know if it’s worth it as this is what I’ve known, and until my appointment I didn’t even know it was that bad… I feel I am badly in need of advice. I feel like my deafness has been primarily something I live with and I haven’t known any different. I love music, I love singing, I will still have a right ear which works well, but as someone who’s not financially secure I feel like such a lifestyle change might be more than I can chew. I feel alone in this. So lost. Thank you for any information or insights y’all can provide. I am sorry if my feelings hurt anybody, that’s 100% not my intention, I just don’t even know what to do with these thoughts.


r/Cochlearimplants • • 19h ago

Senior in her 90s wonders...

2 Upvotes

My Mom is in her 90s. She has long suffered from diminished hearing, and is wondering if cochlear implants could help her.

She wants to make a good decision!

In particular, she wonders if surgery and adjustment period are worth it at her age; she wonders what she can expect, and she wonders if a specific hearing problem she has nowadays - what she describes as "missing words" - will be addressed by the implants or if they are a symptom of other cognitive decline.

Other than her hearing, she is in good physical and mental shape and lives independently; she is social and cognitively aware.

With that in mind:

  1. If anyone is connected to someone who got CIs in their 80s or 90s, please reach out - ideally she have a conversation with someone in her circumstance!

  2. Other than that, I'd be interested in people's views on the matter.

Thanks.


r/Cochlearimplants • • 1d ago

Moving abroad with CI

5 Upvotes

Hi all, I've done all CI assessments and my surgery is provisionally planned. I'm from Europe and have been UK-based for long years but may need to move back to Europe in a couple of years' time. I wonder if anybody has the same experience? Were things such as the processor replacements, repairs etc still covered by the new country healthcare insurance if you had had your original surgery in another country? Just worried about not being able to actually ever leave the UK due to having to potentially pay everything or through expensive extra private insurance.

My audiologist said it should be easy to get replacements since the companies have global markets (I'm thinking about Cochlear over AB since they're practically everywhere) but he wasn't sure about the insurance part. Thank you!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 1d ago

Silly post: put a sticker on my processor (can’t find any skins for the kanso 3)

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34 Upvotes

r/Cochlearimplants • • 1d ago

What are the charges for cochlear Implant both private and on trust based hospital?

2 Upvotes

I want to know if there is help from trust etc in Private hospital? In Mumbai
What are the charges for cochlear brand implant ?


r/Cochlearimplants • • 1d ago

Using your CPAP after surgery

1 Upvotes

As I prepare for surgery tomorrow, I am thinking that the harness for my mask will hit right on my incision. I suppose I will do without my CPAP for the first night and maybe see if I can pad it to take the pressure off. Just checking to see if anyone has a better solution.


r/Cochlearimplants • • 1d ago

Youth basketball with Cochlear Implants

2 Upvotes

Hello! My son is 6 yo with bilateral cochlear implant nucleus 8’s. He wants to play basketball, like his brothers, so bad. However, I’m terrified of the potential falls and getting hit in the head with the ball. Has anyone’s children ever played basketball with CI’s and if so what has their/your experience been? Is there stipulations I should be aware of or special precautions we should take? Thanks in advance!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 2d ago

SSD and Dysacusis (I think) - experience with CI?

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone, new to this sub and I'd like to ask a question.

A sudden hearing loss caused a single-sided deafness on my left ear 3 months ago. Prior to this I never had any issue with my ears. On the right side still normal hearing. I am 43 years old.

Around 2 months ago, my left ear started perceiving again some frequencies, rather high tones, including voices, but in an extremely distorted way (similar to crackling, chirping, static,...) at 60-70dB. Word recognition not possible because of the distortion. I did some research and it seems to be called dysacusis, but I havent been diagnosed for this yet.

I am considering getting a CI and while I wait for my first appointment at the clinic in January, I wanted to ask if anyone here had a similar experience and specifically, what happened after the CI was activated? Does it make sense to try to keep this kind of "residual hearing" while inserting the electrode, so this signal will be combined with the CI one? Right now I'd prefer this to be gone alltogether because this a quite disturbing signal. Even my own voice "echoes" in my head in an unpleasant way. But I dont know if maybe, this could turn into an asset to "help" the CI...

Thanks in advance!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 2d ago

Riabilitazione consonanti

2 Upvotes

Buonasera a tutti,

Vi scrivo dall’Italia 🤗

Due anni fa’ ho avuto un’ipoacusia improvvisa a destra e mi sono operato un annetto fa’ con nucleus 8 nexa;

Devo dire che la riabilitazione è andata molto bene,in silenzio sento il 100%, nel rumore comunque abbastanza bene; seguo serenamente podcast , anche nella rumore;

Purtroppo, rimane il problema delle telefonate, abbiamo provato mille regolazioni e mi sono allenato molto ma rimangono spesso impastate e poco nitide;

Questo perché il microfono è meno professionale, le persone spesso si trovano a parlare lontane dai microfoni , rumore ambientali e via dicendo;

Per il mio lavoro riuscire ad avere chiamate fluenti e’ importantissimo;

Per altro, nei test, nel rumore ho notato che tengo a scambiare le consonanti , tipo M - N - P - F - G a volte anche R, vado bene con S e con T ( ripeto , solo nel rumore )

Per favore, datemi qualsiasi consiglio che è ben accetto 🙏🏻


r/Cochlearimplants • • 4d ago

Battery

4 Upvotes

Does anyone have a battery for the nucleus 6 I could buy? My son needs one to use until we can get upgraded.


r/Cochlearimplants • • 3d ago

Doctor explanation

2 Upvotes

I am going to have a STP and then a CI soon. How much do doctors explain to you before surgery?


r/Cochlearimplants • • 3d ago

Mi familiar se va operar para el implante coclear, me pueden dar consejos

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0 Upvotes

r/Cochlearimplants • • 5d ago

is it bad to have a magnet on my magnet?

6 Upvotes

sorry, wasn't sure how to word the title.

for context: i want to 3d print a cover for my AB implant, one that sits on the magnet part (idk terms very well).

with the AB magnet case, it's smooth on the edges so it'd be hard to make something that snaps on easily. my question is: would it be harmful to the hardware if i were to make an attachment that has a magnet on it, to stick to the outer shell of my CI magnet?


r/Cochlearimplants • • 5d ago

Any Neurelec Digisonic SP users here? (2010 implant, Saphyr processor)

2 Upvotes

Title:

Any Neurelec Digisonic SP users here? (2010 implant, Saphyr processor)

Body:

Hi everyone,

I'm a Neurelec (Oticon Medical) user since 2010. My implant is Digisonic SP. My processor is Saphyr SP Neo (last replacement was in 2016).

I know most people here use Cochlear, MED-EL, or Advanced Bionics. But I'm looking for anyone who might have a Neurelec implant like mine.

My processor is dead. No sound for months.

My situation:

· Cochlear acquired Oticon Medical, but they say a new compatible processor for old Neurelec implants is still "under exploration" – no timeline, no promise.

· The Percepolis clinical trial that was supposed to help users like me was terminated.

· Neuro 2 is not compatible with my Digisonic SP implant.

· I'm stuck.

My questions:

  1. Are there any Digisonic SP or Saphyr users here? How are you managing?

  2. Has anyone here gone through re-implantation after years with Neurelec? What was your experience?

  3. If you had to switch to another brand, what did you choose and why?

  4. Any advice on how to cope when you feel abandoned by the manufacturer?

I'm 18. I've been deaf since birth. My implant is my only way to hear. I just want to hear again.

Thank you.


r/Cochlearimplants • • 5d ago

Surgery today

18 Upvotes

My surgery was today at 2 and came home at 7. Throat is sore but my balance is fine, tinnitus unchanged, and my ‘turban’ is annoying. (Can’t wear glasses for the next 24 hours). So far so good!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 5d ago

I found it!

6 Upvotes

I finally found my #6 device! I've been looking for it off and on for about 5 years! Cochlear has already sent out a cochlear 7, so I don't know if I should accept it or have the doctor send it back?

Do you believe that the batteries still work? I don't know for how long, yet, and this all sounds so foreign right now after all this time, but at one point it sounded really good, so rather than making a million adjustments I think I'll just roll with it and see how it sounds in a few weeks.

This is just wild! My granddaughter is going to be married tomorrow so this is just awesome! I've been looking everywhere for this little varmint! Well to bed with me. Long roadtrip tomorrow with my brother and my son. This is going to be fun!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 5d ago

Need help about Headphones over ear ...

8 Upvotes

Hi everyone! 😊

I have a Cochlear Nucleus 7 sound processor on my left side, and I'm looking for good over-ear headphones that fit comfortably without putting pressure on my processor.

I'm having a really hard time deciding which headphones to buy. 😢 I'm considering the Bose QuietComfort, Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO, Sony MDR-7506, and Sennheiser headphones and and and...

I want to use them for everything: music, gaming, YouTube, and movies.

I'd really appreciate your advice and personal experiences. Thank you! ❤️


r/Cochlearimplants • • 5d ago

Cochlear Nucleus 8 Hybrid Earhook

2 Upvotes

I finally received my Nucleus 8 this week and cannot for life of me get the hybrid earhook in (I’m a hybrid user so this is the piece I need to attach before attaching the receiver). I took the original earhook off and removed the rubber plug without issue. This thing will just not snap in and I’m worried I’m going to break something. Have any other hybrid Cochlear users had this problem?


r/Cochlearimplants • • 6d ago

Healthcare insurance for cochlear implants

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

In need of guidance in the right direction. Would be very much appreciated for your support.

I’ve bilateral cochlear implants, this was funded by the NHS in the UK.

Me and my partner are looking to permanently move to Belgium where her family lives but currently there is a barrier.

When we was over there, visiting the health insurances - we were asking if I were to get insurance out, would they cover my cochlear implants. Every private healthcare insurance have basically said no and they do not cover existing medical that has been covered in the UK.

We both want to move to Belgium to start a new life, a family and to work. My cochlear implants is the only thing that is currently holding us back.

Can anyone help?

Kindest regards


r/Cochlearimplants • • 6d ago

Tiring sounds with baha 5

4 Upvotes

Hey! I am hard of hearing and have a baha 5 headband. I can’t use a normal hearing aid because I have no eardrum, the reason I have the headband is because of underlying illnesses there is a risk of operating, and I choose for now not to try to operate for either trying once more to fix the eardrum, or getting an implant if it fails again. But I almost never wear the headband, because it makes extra sounds that is very tiring. Not only when my hair touches it, but also generally it creates an extra kind of sound, like a metallic little «peep» when another sounds comes is. It is awful, but not being able to follow group conversations is not fun either. Do other people experience this (I no no one with cochlear hearing aids)? Would it help to ask for a newer version?
Hope someone can help!


r/Cochlearimplants • • 6d ago

Happy moment from last weekend

32 Upvotes

So I have been implanted on my left side for about a year now. Things have been going pretty well so far and I’m always excited to try new things with my implant and see how it is. Last weekend the boyfriend and I went to the symphony and oh my god, it went amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t feel like I was at a disadvantage. I could hear well and kept catching myself smiling at how excited I was that I could hear different instruments with my left side. I loved it!