Is There Really a Magic Bath Card for People With Crohn’s and Colitis?
I probably googled poop more often than most people, so I was only a little surprised to see a targeted “Toilet Request Card” ad from CrohnsandColitis.com on Twitter . Is this really a free pass to every bathroom in the world, or just Big Pharma’s marketing ploy? It turns out that there is a little bit of both.
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are conditions in which you may need to use the toilet urgently, and are often accompanied by bloody diarrhea. If there was a magic card for the bathroom, it would be very helpful.
I clicked. Let’s talk about the Big Pharma connection: CrohnsandColitis.com, not affiliated with the Crohn & Colitis Foundation , is a website sponsored and owned by the pharmaceutical company Abbvie . The website invites you to request “additional information and a toilet request card” by filling out the form. The form asks if you had Crohn’s disease or colitis when you were diagnosed, and a series of questions about what medications you are taking and what medications you can take. At the end of the form, you must agree to the statement: “I understand that the information I provide will only be used by AbbVie and its associated third parties to send me useful information about my condition by mail, email and phone. and AbbVie’s treatments, products and services, and for marketing and informational purposes. “
I filled out a form (no one on the internet knows if you really have Crohn’s or colitis) and checked my email. There was a message with “information requested by me,” which was just a link to one of the public pages on the website I was just visiting. There was no card to print, although the form did ask for a postal address – so it is entirely possible that the card is in the mail as we speak.
Bathroom maps are the real thing
I thought it was a junk marketing ploy. You can get a card that you have a disease! Hooray! But in fact, there is some truth in this.
It turns out that several states have an “allied law” that requires businesses to open their private toilets to those in need of health care. This can include Crohn’s disease and colitis. There are some caveats; for example, if a small business doesn’t have enough employees to keep track of the store and open the bathroom for you, they are exempt from paying taxes. The exact details of the law may differ from state to state.
No card required from Ebwie; it is usually sufficient to simply tell the employee that you have a medical condition and need to go to the toilet. (In all fairness, basic human decency should be enough, but the “ally” in the law’s moniker was a young woman who ended up getting dirty after being denied access to a staff-only toilet.) To make the request more discreet. and official. looking, you can take the map with you.
Healthline states that states with such a law are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Apart from Abbvie, other organizations that offer cards include the non-profit GPACT Gastroparesis, Olya , a non-profit for people who have been tube-fed or IV, and Sephure , a company that makes the suppository applicator. Sarah from Inflamed and Untamed invites your gastroenterologist to write you a note if you want the most formal proof that you have a medical condition that can be useful for other purposes, such as carrying medication while traveling.