Three firms in the USA make cochlear implants and nearly 10 000 American children have such a device. In June 2002 one of the manufacturers notified the US Food and Drug Administration of 15 reports of cochlear implant-associated bacterial meningitis. This firm’s implants included a positioner, a small Silastic wedge intended to keep the electrode pressed against the medial wall of the cochlea, and it was suspected that the …