and drugs ( i.e. over the counter drugs) qualify as medical expenses if purchased by the employee, their spouse, or their dependant, as prescribed by a medical practitioner and as recorded by a licensed pharmacist. In the case of insulin, oxygen and liver extract injectable or vitamin B12 for pernicious anemia, no prescription is required. If vitamins are prescribed by a medical practitioner, but not purchased from a pharmacist who has recorded the prescription in a prescription record, then the expense is not an eligible medical expense. However, in recent court cases, they can allow the eligibility of prescribed vitamins, herbs, bottled water, organic and natural foods and not dispensed by a pharmacist if the items are required to sustain the life of the user. It is not eligible if it is simply to satisfy a lifestyle the user has chosen. Vision: Eyeglasses, if prescribed, are eligible medical expenses. Dental: An amount paid to a dentist, dental hygienist, dental surgeon or dental mechanic for dental services provided to the patient (to the extent that the fees are for diagnostic, therapeutic or rehabilitative services) are eligible medical expenses. Professional Services: An amount paid to a licensed medical practitioner is an eligible medical expense. They can include depending on the provincial jurisdiction: • Chiropractor • Audiologist • Chiropodist • Christian Science Practitioner • Dentist • Dental Hygienist • Dental Technician • Denturist • Dietician • Osteopath • Physiotherapist • Podiatrist • Psychiatrist • Psychoanalyst • Physician and Surgeon • Psychologist • Radiologist • Massage Therapist • Midwife • Neurologist • Occupational Therapist • Optician • Speech Therapist • Registered Nurse • Respiratory Therapist • Naturopath All medical doctors, medical practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, nurses or optometrists must be authorized to practice under the laws of the provincial jurisdiction where the service is rendered, in order for the medical expenses to be eligible. Cosmetic Surgery: As of March 2010, expenses incurred for "purely cosmetic" reasons are generally no longer eligible, even if performed by a licensed medical practitioner. The reason for this change is that most PHSPs follow the CRA eligibility rules pertaining to the Medical Expense Tax Credit *(METC). In the March 2010 federal budget cosmetic procedures were made ineligible for the METC. Previously, an amount paid to a medical practitioner for surgery of any kind, whether cosmetic or elective did generally qualify as a medical expense. It was presumed that such surgery