American Notes The President

Balance, be it ideological, legislative or otherwise, is much sought after by politicians. But Ronald Reagan is hoping for a different sort of equilibrium from a second hearing aid that he wore in public last week. The President started wearing an aid in his right ear 18 months ago, but the White House announced that he is now "experimenting" with a second one in his left ear in order "to achieve balance" in distinguishing the direction of sounds.

Businessman J. Peter Grace first recommended the improved hearing devices to Reagan. The new aids, made by Starkey Labs Inc., the Minneapolis manufacturer of his old aid, are half-inch-long devices called intracanal aids, meaning that they go inside the ear canal. The battery-operated devices are scheduled to go on the market next month at a retail cost of $900 to $1,100. Dr. John William House, the President's ear doctor, prescribed the second aid to balance Reagan's hearing by slightly increasing the volume level in his left ear. Reagan's right ear, House says, is 35% impaired, while his left ear is 5% impaired, or what he calls "borderline low."