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crohn's disease health legislation

Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week

On November 14, 2011, the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution 199 (SR 199): “A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, December 1-7.”

We’re nearly through the week, and let’s face it, every week is Crohn’s awareness week for some of us — but I couldn’t let it go by without acknowledging what an honor it is to gain world-wide attention for what is so often a silent collection of illnesses. When I was first diagnosed, nearly no one I spoke with had heard of Crohn’s disease. Thanks to the efforts of some phenomenal groups like the CCFA and UCB, not to mention readers like you, I can spend more time getting well and less time finding help.

There are numerous posts and celebrations for Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, here are just a few:

+ Crohnology.com/ibdweek (thanks Sean!)

+ CCFA’s resources

+ Caring for Crohn’s #purpleweek

+ Huffington Post on IBD Week

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advocacy chronic illness crohn's disease health care healthcare insurance legislation

Life is a pre-existing condition.

Some words of wisdom from Crohn’s disease sufferer and massive advocate (and personal hero of mine) Mike McCready, lead guitarist of Pearl Jam. I’ve written about McCready before, but I wasn’t aware, until this short video, that he had been denied insurance coverage two times for Crohn’s related procedures. Check out the Huffington Post piece about him here.

 

 

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crohn's disease IBD legislation

Vitalogy.

This past Thursday, Pearl JamÂ’s Mike McCready left his guitar at home to lobby for the rights of people with CrohnÂ’s disease. He asked Washington state lawmakers to mandate emergency access to private restrooms for sufferers of both CrohnÂ’s and related disorders.

“The proposal would require retailers without public restrooms to allow people with inflammatory bowel diseases to use employee restrooms, provided an identification card or a letter from a doctor or nurse is shown…if the bill becomes law, those who refuse to open up their restrooms to qualified people could eventually be fined $100.” —Brian Slodysko, Associated Press

Three other states—Illinois, Michigan and Texas—have passed similar laws already. Here’s the really interesting part—there is a lobbyist from the Washington Restaurant Association who is against this law and cites the safety of employees in kitchens as the reason. I had to laugh when I read this envisioning hundreds of Crohn’s disease sufferers running through busy and crowded kitchens, taking out anyone in our paths—doctors note in hand—to get to the oh-so-common “private employee bathrooms.”

I’m hoping McCready goes Seattle-punk-rock on this guy if they ever meet—but then again, I’ll be too busy endangering the lives of restaurant employees according to Michael Transue.

More on the legislature here: leg.wa.gov and the article here: seattlepi.com

(Thanks for telling me about this John!)