The new childproof hearing aid battery packaging is way more dangerous for a child than the old packaging. A 312 battery if swallowed will come out the other end. However, the sharp shards of transparent plastic that result from wrestling open the package with scissors are for mare dangerous if swallowed and would probably require surgery!! What were they thinking? This is just stupid. Many hearing aid users are elderly. The chances of a battery going flying somewhere down child levels are pretty close ton100%.
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I find the shards of transparent plastic that result from wrestling with the packaging with scissors are far more dangerous for a child that the smooth 312 batteries.
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I (with great difficulty) cut open and removed all of the 48 pack batteries from Costco. Figured it was easier to have to do it one time rather than every few days. I put them all in an old small medication bottle and will use them from there. I just saw the post that said they would discharge some. I guess we’ll see how that turns out. But I really doubt it will impact the battery life significantly and the batteries from Costco are pretty reasonable anyway. Plus, maybe can get the grandkids to open them for me since this supply will last more than a month and they come over every couple of weeks or so. Really agree with everyone that something needs to be done. Went from an easy to use situation to one that’s very hard. There’s a lot of really smart packaging engineers that should be able to figure it out.
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Bails, if the battery bodies touch each other they aren’t going to last in storage more than a couple of weeks. I speak from experience.
Yes, this is a ridiculous situation and the solution is to change the law.
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Thank you. I take them back out and separate them
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Change hearing life battery package back to 2024 standard. I’ve used this for over 25 years and never heard of a child problem
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I just had this delivered from Etsy. I’m in the UK, so it proved expensive, but USA & Canada buyers should find the pricing good.
It takes 8 batteries and functions very well. The seller does versions for 13 and 312 batteries.
Peter
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I had seen a similar type of packaging from Ray-O-Vac, but was also expensive. I took out 4 packages of the Costco batteries, but them apart with a scissors, and then removed the batteries and placed the batteries on a piece of masking tape with the sticker side down against the tape, Then all you have to do is pull off the battery leaving the sticker behind. Works really well. Still a pain to cut apart and remove the batteries, but at least It’s a one time thing
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;I have been frustrated with the new packaging also and called Costco yesterday and lodged my complaint. They need to change the packaging back to what it was. I have wasted several batteries because they fell out and touched each other. Anyone who is having problems could call Costco or let them know at their warehouse. They do like to hear if people are not satisfied with their products.
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There is something strange going on. Costco and others have these ridiculous, senior-proof batteries. Yet there are others on sale that have normal packaging. Per a suggestion I read here I bought batteries on Amazon that work great and have normal packaging. I’ll post a link.
A friend just showed me Duracell batteries that he bought on Amazon last week, again with normal packaging. Both of these brands are more expensive than Costco, but not horribly so.
I don’t know what’s going on. There was an earlier reference here to the notion that zinc-air hearing aid batteries are exempt from the law. The fact that there are batteries on sale right now at Amazon suggests that maybe different companies are having different interpretations of the law…? I really don’t know. What I do know is that you can buy non-child proof packaging of 312 batteries on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FNW09U?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1
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The odds are Amazon is selling older stock.
When it runs out the new ones will be child proof.
A manufacturer is not going to try to skirt a federal law.
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LOL!! I’m just seeing this “art” on the table. Us battery users should print it out and mail it with a letter to our Congress-folks: “Which tool would YOU carry on your person to cut open hearing aid battery packages in a pinch?”
Yeah. I thought so. You’d be clever like us and just SAVE one of your Duracell battery pack cases to reuse over and over and over and over till the end of Time. 
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Yes, that is my GUT instinct, too. Stock up NOW! And save those old battery cases for future use.
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LOL! If we can figure out how to invent our own hearing aid battery packs, we can put folks on the MOON.
Amazing creativity on this thread.
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I was just at the Glenview, IL Costco. They had a few batteries in the new package and 312s, 13s, and I think 10s in the old packaging. The last time I was there, they had a few of the old packages and many of the new ones.
They were too busy to ask what the future will bring, but I’m hoping that complaints and the fact that HA batteries aren’t part of the problem means we’ll have human-centered battery pack for the future.
I sure hope not. Hearing aid manufacturers are pushing rechargeable HAs on us, but are at the same time cutting back on issuing chargers that carry their own 3-4 day charge. That makes traveling much more problematic; it’s not easy to find a spot to plug in every 24 hours while on the go.
This new battery packaging requires a tool (scissors) to open. Then we have the risk of cutting oneself on the sharp edges of the plastic once cut open.
Whatever happened to logical, forward thinking? And to product testing?
If you look closely at the description these batteries are from Germany where this packaging law does not exist. Thanks for the link, I will buy my next pack of batteries from them.
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Yes, Germany. But what they sell here has to conform to USA requirements. I do think that what’s going on that they are allowed to clear inventory that was made prior to a certain date, per an earlier post.
Apparently the Equate batteries at walmart are also the old style, for now.
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They should label the packaging “Child & Senior proof.”
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