Blash v. Berryhill

379 F. Supp. 3d 288
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 20, 2019
Docket18 Civ. 2288 (GWG)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 379 F. Supp. 3d 288 (Blash v. Berryhill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blash v. Berryhill, 379 F. Supp. 3d 288 (S.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN, United States Magistrate Judge

Plaintiff Jannine Blash brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for judicial review of the final decision of the Acting Commissioner of Social Security (the "Commissioner") denying her applications for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income under the Social Security Act (the "Act"). Blash moves the Court to set aside the decision below or for remand. The Commissioner moves for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c).1 For *290the reasons stated below, the Commissioner's motion is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

Blash filed applications for Disability Insurance Benefits ("DIB") and Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") on April 18, 2014, alleging a disability onset date of August 1, 2012. See Certified Administrative Record, filed June 17, 2018 (Docket # 10) ("R."), 112-13, 188, 195. The Social Security Administration ("SSA") denied Blash's applications on September 3, 2014. R. 115-22. Blash requested a hearing before an administrative law judge ("ALJ") to review the denial, R. 160, which occurred on June 6, 2016, R. 67-83. In a written decision dated April 26, 2017, the ALJ found that Blash was not disabled within the meaning of the Act. R. 41-42. Blash requested that the Appeals Council review the ALJ's decision, R. 186, but on January 17, 2018, the Appeals Council denied Blash's request, R. 1-6. Blash timely filed this action on March 14, 2018. See Complaint (Docket # 1).

B. The Hearing Before the ALJ

Blash was represented by her attorney, Roland Nemes of Bronx Legal Services, at the hearing before the ALJ on June 6, 2016. R. 67. Blash testified at the hearing. R. 69-83. A vocational expert ("VE") was to attend the hearing but was unavailable. R. 82-83. At the hearing, Blash, though her attorney, amended her alleged onset date to April 18, 2014. R. 69; see R. 26.

Blash testified that she was born in 1969, is single, and has two adult children, one of whom she lives with in her eleventh-floor Bronx apartment. R. 70. She uses the stairs when the elevator in her apartment building is not working. R. 70. Blash does not drive and takes public transportation. R. 70-71.

Blash worked prior to 2000, and then again between 2003 and 2006. R. 71. Her most recent work included clerical work, receptionist-type work, temporary jobs, and work as a full-time home health aide. R. 71-72. As a home health aide, Blash's duties consisted of helping her homebound client dress, preparing the client's meals, cleaning, and taking the client to appointments. R. 73. This job involved "a combination of a lot of standing and lifting." R. 73. In 2012 or 2013, Blash was forced to stop working due to pain resulting from gynecological issues. R. 73-74. Although she eventually had surgery as a result of these issues, R. 73-74, Blash has continued to experience pain due to pancreatitis, which is somewhat relieved by medication, R. 74. She also uses a heating pad for her stomach and back pain. R. 75. The pain Blash experiences as a result of the pancreatitis is sometimes so severe that she cannot get out of bed for a week at a time, though these episodes take place only "three or four times in a year." R. 76.

Blash also testified that she has an asthma condition, whose symptoms are managed by use of an inhaler, a nebulizer (with abuterol sulfate), a steroid in the form of Symbicort, and the drug Spiriva. R. 75. Due to her asthma, she finds it increasingly more difficult to "walk long distances without getting winded" or "running out of breath." R. 76. She can walk only two blocks at a time, and tries to avoid walking at all. R. 76. Though she has difficulties walking, Blash has no problem sitting. R. 76. She cannot "carry too much," because of the resulting pain in her abdomen. R. 77.

*291Blash also answered questions from the ALJ regarding her psychiatric condition. She testified that her depression "affects [her] a lot," and that she has been on several different medications with increasing dosages. R. 77. Blash also takes medication to help her sleep at night. R. 77. Without the medication, however, she has "racing thoughts" at times and cannot settle herself down enough to fall asleep. R. 78. Being around new people makes her anxious, and riding the subway has become "increasingly difficult" because of her fear of large crowds and because of the violence that occurs in the city. R. 78. For that reason, and because she is also claustrophobic - she does not "like being under the [subway] tunnel" - Blash takes the bus whenever possible. R. 78-79. She also has had a reduced appetite, which is associated with depression, and difficulty concentrating. R. 79.

On a typical day, if she does not have "an appointment," Blash spends her day "stuck in the house" and does not want to get out of bed. R. 79. Because her daughter is a full-time college student, there is no one to help with daily chores. R. 79. Still, Blash prepares her own food and does some cleaning, though not as much as she did before the onset of her current impairments and resulting pain. R. 79. While Blash does have phone contact with her son, she does not keep in touch with other family, friends, or neighbors. R. 80. She has no hobbies or activities for which she must leave the house. R. 80. She stated that she was seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist, had started out with drugs such as Zoloft, and at the time was on "a generic form of Wellbutrin." R. 80. Blash testified that she was seeing a psychiatrist once a month, and that while she used to see her therapist twice a week, she was currently being introduced to a new therapist with whom she was meeting weekly. R. 81. In response to the ALJ's questioning, Blash stated that the therapy sessions "are rough ... because [the sessions] start touching on a lot of things that I don't really want to deal with." R. 81. In response to additional questions from her attorney, Blash stated that she usually sleeps 10 to 12 hours each night, and increasingly finds herself napping throughout the day. R. 81-82.

At the end of the testimony, the ALJ noted that the VE who was supposed to testify at the hearing was not present. R. 82. The ALJ explained to Blash that the VE "can testify to work that you did in the past, and work that's available in the national economy." R. 82. The ALJ stated that a VE is not always necessary in social security cases, and that if one was necessary in Blash's case, "we would probably do that by writing since we didn't have them here." R. 82. Thus, the ALJ explained, any VE testimony in Blash's case would be offered through written interrogatory; after having a chance to review the written testimony, Blash would have an opportunity to request a supplemental hearing. R. 82. Finally, the ALJ stated that the record would be held open for a "couple of weeks in order to get the updated medical records." R. 82-83.

C. The Vocational Experts' Written Testimony

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379 F. Supp. 3d 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blash-v-berryhill-ilsd-2019.