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<regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".09" citation="COMAR 03.06.01.09" title_num="03" subtitle_num="06" chapter_num="01" heading="Sale of Medicines, Medical Supplies, Tobacco Cessation Products, Sickroom Equipment, and Certain Medical Equipment.">
  <paragraph num="A.">
    <text>The sales and use tax does not apply to sales of medicines, disposable medical supplies, tobacco cessation products, sickroom equipment, certain medical supplies, and certain medical equipment.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="B.">
    <text>For the purposes of Tax-General Article, Title 11, Annotated Code of Maryland, the following terms have the meanings indicated:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Medical Equipment.</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>“Medical equipment” means equipment that:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>Can withstand repeated use;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>Is used exclusively to serve a medical purpose;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iii)">
          <text>Is not useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iv)">
          <text>Is for use in the home or on the individual's person.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>“Medical equipment” includes, but is not limited to, the following items:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>Overbed table;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>Wheelchair tray;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iii)">
          <text>Pressure or pressure sore relief products;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iv)">
          <text>Bath and toilet safety products;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(v)">
          <text>Respiratory equipment;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(vi)">
          <text>Trapeze bar;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(vii)">
          <text>Traction equipment;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(viii)">
          <text>Patient lifts;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ix)">
          <text>Geriatric chair;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(x)">
          <text>Thermaphores, heating pads, cervical pillows, medical corsets, elastic bandages;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(xi)">
          <text>All types of braces, casts, mastectomy bras and forms;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(xii)">
          <text>Apnea monitors, infant breathing monitors, blood glucose monitors, and heart monitors; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(xiii)">
          <text>Stairlifts, unless installed in such a manner that they become part of the real property.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>“Medical equipment” does not include:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>Lift chairs;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>Exercise equipment;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iii)">
          <text>Air conditioners;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iv)">
          <text>Humidifiers;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(v)">
          <text>Dehumidifiers;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(vi)">
          <text>Vibrators;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(vii)">
          <text>Massagers;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(viii)">
          <text>Bedside cabinets;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ix)">
          <text>Receptacles for medical waste;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(x)">
          <text>Blood pressure devices;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(xi)">
          <text>Thermometers;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(xii)">
          <text>Scales of any type; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(xiii)">
          <text>Devices used to obtain or monitor pulse or respiration, such as pulse oximeters, control diascans, Doppler diagnostic equipment, and mini-Dopplers.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>“For use in the home” includes a nursing home or other assisted care facility, but only to the extent that the equipment remains in the room in which the patient sleeps and is used regularly and exclusively by the patient in that room. Equipment that is used generally for patients throughout the nursing home or other assisted care facility is not considered to be for use in the home. Thus, equipment used in examination, treatment, operating, delivery, and therapy rooms or moved from patient room to patient room in a nursing home or other assisted care facility is not exempt.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>“Medical supplies” means an article used in the cure, mitigation, treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of illnesses. Disposable medical supplies are medical or surgical supplies consumed in a single usage and do not include skin care creams or cleansers. Medical supplies do not include nondisposable surgical supplies, or medical or surgical equipment.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>“Medicine” means a preparation or substance intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of illnesses. The term includes drugs sold on prescription of physicians, drugs for which no prescription is required, and proprietary and patent medicines. The term does not include cosmetics, dentifrices, shaving and hair care products, soaps, deodorants, or skin care creams or cleansers. A product that is primarily cosmetic in nature is not “medicine” even though it may contain medicinal properties.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>“Sickroom equipment” means “medical equipment” as defined in §B(1) of this regulation.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>“Tobacco cessation products” means nicotine patches, nicotine gum, or any other product intended for use as an aid in tobacco use cessation and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for that purpose.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
</regulation>