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Legislative Alerts


Here are issues of concern to the digestive health community – and the means for you to take action.

NATIONAL ISSUES

REGIONAL ISSUES

 

NATIONAL ISSUES

Urge your Members of Congress to Support the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs) Research and Treatment Act.

IFFGD has worked with leading clinicians and researchers to draft the IBS and FGIDs Research and Treatment Act. This landmark piece of legislation would significantly expand and coordinate federally supported research efforts for functional GI disorders. In addition, the bill contains provisions to train new FGID investigators, better educate healthcare providers to properly recognize and treat FGIDs, and directs the FDA to improve the development and oversight of treatments. 

You can reach out to your Members of Congress, educate them about IBS and/or functional GI disorders, explain the importance of this legislation from a patient perspective, and enlist their support for this important effort. To find out how, click here.

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Ask your Members of Congress to Recognize April as IBS Awareness Month. 

Despite the prevalence of IBS and the tireless outreach of the IFFGD, many lawmakers remain unaware of IBS and the unique challenges faced by the patient community. Introducing an annual Congressional Resolution which recognizes April as IBS Awareness Month will raise the profile of IBS on Capitol Hill and inform legislators of the issues impacting IBS patients. 

Contact your Members of Congress and raise awareness of IBS. Ask them to support this resolution. To find out how, click here.

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REGIONAL ISSUES

ARIZONA 

IBS Patients from Arizona, Inform your Senator, John McCain (R-AZ), About the Serious and Debilitating Nature of IBS.

During the Senate’s consideration of the Fiscal Year 2010 Omnibus Appropriations Package, Senator McCain singled out a $655,000 congressionally directed spending project devoted to improving medical services for IBS patients in California as a symbol of wasteful government spending. While the IFFGD supports responsible government and is in no way connected to this federal funding, we are concerned that speaking about IBS in this manner lends to a harmful misconception that IBS is not a serious medical condition.

If you are a constituent of Senator McCain who is IBS-affected, we encourage you to write to him, explain your IBS story, and inform him about the debilitating nature of IBS by clicking here.

NORTH CAROLINA 

Functional GI disorders patients, friends or family members, enlist support of your U.S. Senators.

If you are from North Carolina, please consider contacting your senators, Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kay Kagan (D-NC) and urging them to work together to introduce the IBS and Functional GI Disorders Research and Treatment Act in the Senate.  

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) serve together on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee—the Committee which handles health and patient care issues in the Senate. Through their positions on this Committee, they are in an excellent position to work together in a bipartisan fashion to introduce and advance the IBS and Functional GI Disorders Research and Treatment Act. However, they will only take a leadership role on this issue if they hear from their constituents and understand that it is a priority. 

The IBS and Functional GI Disorders Research and Treatment Act would bolster critical research and stimulate the development of new treatment options for patients. If you are from North Carolina and you are interested in seeing that your senators introduce this important legislation, please take action by clicking here.

WISCONSIN

Digestive Disorders Patients from Wisconsin, Contact your State Representative and State Senator and Urge them to Support the Restroom Access Act (Assembly Bill 709).

Wisconsin State Representatives Karl Van Roy (R-90th Assembly District) and Jim Soletski (D-88th Assembly District), and State Senator John Lehman (D-21st Senate District) are championing the Restroom Access Act (Assembly Bill 709) in the Wisconsin State Legislature. Similar legislation has been passed by other states across the country.

This legislation allows individuals with certain digestive disorders to use the bathroom facilities at retail establishments where the bathroom is designated “employees only”. If you reside in Wisconsin and you would like to ensure that this bill is passed and made state law, please take action by clicking here. 

 

Last modified on February 18, 2010 at 11:53:19 AM