- 9 - the testimony of absent witnesses would have been favorable to petitioner. Rather, the normal inference is that it would have been unfavorable. See Pollack v. Commissioner, 47 T.C. 92, 108 (1966), affd. 392 F.2d 409 (5th Cir. 1968); Wichita Terminal Elevator Co. v. Commissioner, 6 T.C. 1158, 1165 (1946), affd. 162 F.2d 513 (10th Cir. 1947). Under these circumstances, we cannot find that petitioner expended the claimed amounts for medical devices during the year at issue. In his reconstruction of costs, petitioner represented that he paid $2,300 for prescription medicine during 1995. Although this amount is substantial, and although petitioner testified at trial that his daughter continued to suffer from asthma, petitioner could not remember the names of the drugs that his daughter was prescribed. The only credible evidence petitioner produced at trial to substantiate his claim that he paid for medical care was a computer printout of his financial history from the clinic where he took Michelle for treatment. The printout has columns for the date, patient's name, payment history, diagnosis, and cost of the service. Petitioner testified that he began taking Michelle to the clinic in early 1995; however, the printout shows that as of August 4, 1995, Michelle was a new patient with no previous history. The printout also shows that, except for $12 paid byPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
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