I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2486 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that amounts 
paid for foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, or medical 
foods shall be treated as medical expenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2005 
Mr. BURTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. TERRY, 
and Mr. GERLACH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
that amounts paid for foods for special dietary use, die-
tary supplements, or medical foods shall be treated as 
medical expenses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act shall be known as the ‘‘Dietary Supplement 
Tax Fairness Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that—
(1) the inclusion of foods for special dietary 
use, dietary supplements, and medical foods in the 
deduction for medical expenses does not subject such 
items to regulation as drugs, 
(2) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 treats 
such items as allowable for the medical expense de-
duction, but only if such items are prescribed drugs, 
(3) such items have been shown through re-
search and historical use to be a valuable benefit to 
human health, in particular disease prevention and 
overall good health, and 
(4) children with inborn errors of metabolism, 
metabolic disorders, and autism, and all individuals 
with diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and chronic in-
flammatory conditions, frequently require daily die-
tary interventions as well as medical interventions to 
manage their conditions and such dietary interven-
tions often become a significant economic burden on 
such individuals. 
SEC. 3. AMOUNTS PAID FOR FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY 
USE, DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS, OR MEDICAL 
FOODS TREATED AS MEDICAL EXPENSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 213(d) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to medical, 
dental, etc., expenses) is amended by redesignating sub-
paragraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), 
respectively, and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) for foods for special dietary use, die-
tary supplements (as defined in section 201 of 
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act), 
and medical foods,’’. 
(b) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
INSURANCE
COVERING 
FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USE, DIETARY SUPPLE-
MENTS, AND MEDICAL FOODS.—Subsection (d) of section 
213 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
medical, dental, etc., expenses) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(12) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
INSURANCE
COV-
ERING FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USE, DIETARY 
SUPPLEMENTS, 
AND
MEDICAL
FOODS.—Amounts 
paid for insurance covering foods and supplements 
referred to in paragraph (1)(C) shall be treated as 
described in paragraph (1)(E) only if such foods and 
supplements comply with applicable good manufac-
turing practices prescribed by the Food and Drug 
Administration or with other comparable stand-
ards.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Subparagraph (E) of section 213(d)(1) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as redesignated 
by subsection (a), is amended by striking ‘‘subpara-
graphs (A) and (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs 
(A), (B), and (C)’’. 
(2) The last sentence of section 213(d)(1) of 
such Code is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph 
(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (E)’’. 
(3) Paragraph (6) of section 213(d) of such 
Code is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and (C)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(C), and (D)’’, and 
(B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(D)’’ in 
subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘‘paragraph 
(1)(E)’’. 
(4) Paragraph (7) of section 213(d) of such 
Code is amended by striking ‘‘and (C)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(C), and (D)’’. 
(5) 
Sections 
72(t)(2)(D)(i)(III) 
and 
7702B(a)(4) of such Code are each amended by 
striking ‘‘section 213(d)(1)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion 213(d)(1)(E)’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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