Boscher v. Heckler

583 F. Supp. 357, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18177
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 28, 1984
DocketCiv. A. No. 81-2916
StatusPublished

This text of 583 F. Supp. 357 (Boscher v. Heckler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boscher v. Heckler, 583 F. Supp. 357, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18177 (E.D. Pa. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

LOUIS H. POLLAK, District Judge.

This is the second appeal filed by plaintiff Florence Boscher under § 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Plaintiff again seeks district court review of the final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services denying her claim for disability benefits under Title XVI of the Act.

This matter first came to this court during the summer of 1981 following the Appeals Council’s conclusion that the decision of the Administrative Law Judge (AU) denying disability benefits was not defective under 20 C.F.R. § 404.970. In an opinion dated March 9, 1982, I denied both plaintiff’s and defendant’s motions for summary judgment, vacated the Secretary’s decision and remanded the action to the AU for reconsideration. In particular, my 1982 opinion found:

that the AU erred in reaching his decision (a) by failing to accord sufficient weight to Mrs. Boscher’s testimony concerning the disabling character of the pain from which she suffered; and (b) by minimizing the significance of the reports which, in my view, tended to corroborate her subjective testimony as to pain and clearly suggest that her complaints of pain were not grossly disproportionate to the medical evidence. Cf. Rodriguez v. Schweiker, 523 F.Supp. [359]*3591240 (E.D.Pa.1981). Moreover, the AU failed to explain clearly, as he was required to under the Third Circuit’s recent decision in Cotter v. Harris, 642 F.2d 700, 706 (3d Cir.1981), the basis for disregarding the conclusion of Dr. Vasile that Mrs. Boscher’s activity was “severely limited” and the testimony of Mrs. Boscher concerning her capacity to work.

On remand, the AU who had originally decided Mrs. Boscher’s case was reassigned the ease with instructions from the Appeals Council to conduct further proceedings consistent with the decision of this court. The AU, finding that no further hearing was necessary in order to comply with my opinion, issued a revised opinion on July 26, 1982 which again found that plaintiff was not entitled to disability benefits. The Appeals Council, in a decision dated September 23, 1982, adopted the AU’s findings and conclusions and rejected the objections filed by plaintiff.

This second determination that plaintiff was not disabled was appealed to this court in January, 1984.1 The matter is now before me on cross-motions for summary judgment.

The basic facts of plaintiff’s claimed disability were reviewed in my 1982 decision as follows:

Mrs. Boscher was born on April 4, 1919 and has received a tenth-grade education. From 1967 to 1973, Mrs. Boscher worked as a nurse’s aide. In 1973, she left her employment complaining of sharp pains in her back and legs which prevented her from performing the many tasks, including lifting, washing, feeding and walking patients, associated with work as a nurse’s aide.

In making his determination that plaintiff was not disabled as defined by the Social Security Act and the appropriate regulations, the AU considered plaintiff’s testimony at the hearing held before him on January 19, 1981, plaintiff’s application for disability benefits filed on February 28, 1980, the various documents filed in the course of processing her request for disability benefits through the Social Security Administration, and the reports of the following physicians: Dr. Robert J. Doman, whose examination of plaintiff was performed at the request of the Social Security Administration; Dr. R.D. Weiss, a radiologist who reported on plaintiff’s 1980 back X-rays; and Dr. Salvatore R. Vasile, plaintiff’s treating physician since 1974. The AU again found that plaintiff’s subjective claims of severe pain and inability to perform her past work were not credible. He also concluded that Dr. Vasile’s opinion was “not accompanied by a detailed examination or objective clinical findings” and since it was “inconsistent with other medical findings made in the record” it was not “binding.” Ultimately, the AU found that Dr. Doman’s report which showed “only partial restriction of motion” supported the conclusion that plaintiff was not entitled to disability benefits.

The standards under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services is to make a determination as to disability are well established. The Secretary must find: first, that plaintiff suffers from a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death, or which has lasted, or can be expected to last, for a continuous period of at least twelve months, 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A); and second, that her impairment is so severe that it prevents her from engaging either in her previous work, or considering her age, experience, education or work experience, “in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy.” 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(2)(A). The claimant first has the burden of showing that she is unable to return to her previous work. Once the claimant makes this prima facie showing of disability, the burden [360]*360then shifts to the Secretary to demonstrate that the claimant is able to perform specific jobs existing in the economy. Rossi v. Califano, 602 F.2d 55, 57 (3d Cir.1979).

Plaintiff also shoulders the burden of proving that she was disabled within the period of insured eligibility. Domozik v. Cohen, 413 F.2d 5, 6 (3d Cir.1969); Koss v. Richardson, 329 F.Supp. 1270, 1272 (W.D. Pa.1971). A disability which commences after the expiration of plaintiff’s insured status does not entitle plaintiff to disability benefits. In this case, the Appeals Council found that plaintiff’s insured status ended on September 30, 1978. Thus, the plaintiff must prove that she was disabled prior to that date in order to recover benefits. The AU made his finding of nondisability on the basis of the medical-vocational regulations promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520. Those regulations establish a five-step process for an AU to follow in a disability case. In Santise v. Schweiker, 676 F.2d 925 (3d Cir.1982), that process was determined to be acceptable and not inconsistent with the two-step process described in the previous paragraph. In Santise, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit noted that the five-step process in the medical-vocational regulations does not change the respective burdens of the Secretary and the claimant. Thus, “the Secretary’s ultimate responsibility for rebutting a claimant’s prima facie showing of disability remains unchanged.” 676 F.2d at 938. '

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Santise v. Schweiker
676 F.2d 925 (Third Circuit, 1982)
Aquino v. Harris
516 F. Supp. 265 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1981)
Santiago v. Richardson
345 F. Supp. 438 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1972)
Baith v. Weinberger
378 F. Supp. 596 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1974)
Brennan v. Schweiker
542 F. Supp. 680 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1982)
Rodriguez v. Schweiker
523 F. Supp. 1240 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1981)
Gonzalez v. Harris
496 F. Supp. 1014 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1980)
Giordano v. Schweiker
551 F. Supp. 997 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1982)
Koss v. Richardson
329 F. Supp. 1270 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
583 F. Supp. 357, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boscher-v-heckler-paed-1984.