Adams v. Massanari

55 F. App'x 279
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 23, 2003
DocketNo. 01-3273
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 55 F. App'x 279 (Adams v. Massanari) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams v. Massanari, 55 F. App'x 279 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

In this appeal, we are called upon to review the district’s court’s order affirming Defendant-Appellee’s denial of Disability Insurance Benefits for Plaintiff-Appellant Carol Adams under Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 423 (2002). Appellant was denied disability insurance benefits that she claimed were due her based on a severely aggravated case of inflammatory arthritis, status post colectomy and status post ileosto-my. Upon review. Magistrate-Judge Nancy Vecchiarelli accepted Appellee’s argument that Appellant was not disabled and could perform her past relevant work. Appellant now appeals on the grounds that 1) she is disabled on the medical evidence alone, and 2) the Administrative Law Judge erred in failing to provide the medical expert with post-hearing evidence, thus depriving Appellant of a full and fair hearing required by the Due Process Clause. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

On October 26, 1994, Appellant filed an application for disability insurance benefits, alleging disability due to non-rheumatoid inflammatory arthritis, status post colectomy and status post ileostomy. Appellant claimed that she became disabled on March 31, 1994. Her application was denied initially, and on reconsideration. Appellant’s disability insured status expired on December 31, 1996.

On April 10, 1997, an administrative hearing was held before Administrative Law Judge Robert H. Isbell (hereinafter “ALJ”) to review the denial of Appellant’s application. On March 26, 1998, the ALJ ruled that Appellant was not disabled since her condition did not meet or equal the Listing 1.02 criteria for disability, nor did it prevent her from engaging in her past relevant work. In making this decision, the ALJ looked to the entire record of medical evidence and diverged from the [281]*281opinion of Dr. Harvey Dworken, the medical expert (hereinafter “ME”), who opined that Appellant equaled the Listing 1.02 criteria.

The Appeals Council denied Appellant’s request for review on April 16, 1999. Appellant then filed an appeal to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, whereupon the decision of the ALJ was affirmed.

B. Medical Evidence

Appellant was a sixty-two year-old high school graduate at the time of her administrative hearing. She has past relevant work experience as a customer service representative in a bank.

On July 12, 1994, Appellant entered the Cleveland Clinic claiming that she had been experiencing chronic back pain for six months, and right side leg pain for two months. She was diagnosed with a perforated duodenal ulcer, perforated sigmoid diverticulitis, polyarthralgia rheumatica, pelvic abscess and malnutrition. While there, she underwent surgery for duodenal perforation repair, appendectomy, vagoto-my, pyloroplasty, subtotal colectomy and end ileostomy, and drainage of the pelvic abscess. Upon her release on August 12, 1994, Appellant’s lifting and walking were restricted. She was again seen by the Cleveland Clinic from October 19, 1994 to November 2, 1994 for an abdominal/pelvic abscess. No restrictions were placed on Appellant’s activity at the time of her discharge.

On January 24,1995, Dr. Terry Wolpaw, Appellant’s rheumatologist, reported to the Bureau of Disability Determination that Appellant was recovering from a chronic abdominal infection which was complicated by persistent drainage and fistula formation. Dr. Wolpaw did not place any restrictions on her working ability. On January 25, 1995, he noted that she had a rising sedimentation rate in June of 1994. He did not believe that Appellant’s diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica was firm, in part because she responded so poorly to steroid therapy. On May 20, 1995, he reported she had an “open abdominal wound with fistula formation,” and was “severely limited physically.” Specifically, she was limited to two hours of sitting, less than one hour of walking, minimal bending, lifting and carrying no more than five pounds, handling light objects only, and traveling in a wheelchair.

Three months later, on August 24, 1995. Dr. Samad Saegh reported to the Bureau of Disability Determination that Appellant presented to him on August 7, 1995 with numbness and weakness in her right leg, and constant pain in her upper extremities. Dr. Saegh noted that Appellant had a history suggestive of severe degenerative arthritis, peptic ulcer disease, chronic lung granuloma, remote perforated ulcers and intraabdominal abscess formation, and a non-healing abdominal incision. The ileos-tomy site functioned well, although the incision was not healed. Dr. Saegh also stated that Appellant walked slowly, but could walk on her toes and heels, and walk toe to heel. Her range of motion in her joints was normal, although painful at times. She had no gross abnormalities in her extremities, nor did she have any motor, sensory or reflex abnormalities. Overall, Dr. Saegh stated that Appellant was limited in her ability to sit, stand, walk, run, climb, lift and bend, but he did not place any specific limitations on these activities.

On September 7, 1995, Dr. James Har-die, a state agency reviewing physician, conducted a functional capacity assessment of Appellant. He opined that Appellant could occasionally lift 20 pounds, frequently lift 10 pounds, stand/walk for two hours per day, sit for six hours per day, and was [282]*282limited in the use of her upper extremities. He further reported that Appellant could occasionally climb ramps or stairs, stoop, kneel, and crouch, although she could never crawl or climb a ladder, rope or scaffold. Dr. Hardie also noted limitations in Appellant’s ability to reach in all directions, but not in her ability to handle, finger or feel.

On February 6, 1996, Dr. Thomas Vogel, also a state agency reviewing physician, conducted a functional capacity assessment of Appellant. He reported that Appellant could occasionally lift 20 pounds, frequently lift and carry ten pounds, stand/walk for six hours per day, sit for six hours per day, and had unlimited exertional ability in her upper and lower extremities. Appellant was also unlimited in her ability to climb, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, handle, finger and feel.

On August 19, 1996, Dr. R. Matthew Walsh, one of Appellant’s primary physicians, reported that Appellant underwent surgery to reverse her ileostomy and repair a large ventral hernia in July, 1996. He noted that her recovery was slow due to a large abdominal wound. Further, because Appellant had very little of her lower intestinal tract, she suffered from persistent, but controllable, diarrhea. He anticipated recovery with full physical activity within six to eight months. On February 28, 1997, Dr. Walsh assessed Appellant’s ability to perform work-related tasks. He reported that Appellant was limited to lifting and carrying 20 pounds, but was unlimited in her ability to stand, walk and sit. Furthermore. Appellant could occasionally climb, balance, stoop, crouch, kneel or crawl, and her ability to reach, handle, feel and push were unaffected by her physical impairment.

C. Hearing Testimony

At the hearing, the ME, a gastroenterol-ogist, testified that while Appellant did not specifically meet Listing 1.02, she may have equaled

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55 F. App'x 279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-v-massanari-ca6-2003.