prescription drugs from Canada

[dyne]

Prescription drugs purchased from Canada or outside US are NOT deductible as
medical expenses. Likewise amounts paid to doctors, hospitals, etc. outside the
US are not deductible.
This was SAID by an instructor at a two day tax seminar.

[Brad Imsdahl]

TTB, 2006 edition, page 4-7 says: "Prescribed drugs that are imported can be deducted only if the drug is imported legally. The cost of prescribed drugs purchased and consumed in another country are deductible only if the drug is legal in both the other country and the United States."



That statement is from the 2005 version of IRS Pub 502, page 15 which says, "In general, you cannot include in your medical expenses the cost of a prescribed drug brought in (or ordered shipped) from another country, because you can only include the cost of a drug that was imported legally. (You can include the cost of a prescribed drug the Food and Drug Administration announces can be legally imported by individuals.) However, you can include the cost of a prescribed drug you purchase and consume in another country if the drug is legal in both the other country and the United States."


I assume there is some law that prohibits the importing of drugs from Canada, and that is why the seminar speaker said that.

[Unregistered]

According to the FDA website, it's a theoretical possibility that you could import legal drugs but highly unlikely. To be legal the drugs have to meet all of the rules that apply to domestically produced nostrums.(Slight editorial liberty taken)