Brandon E. Hacia v. Commissioner of Social Security

601 F. App'x 783
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 2, 2015
Docket14-13504
StatusUnpublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 601 F. App'x 783 (Brandon E. Hacia v. Commissioner of Social Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brandon E. Hacia v. Commissioner of Social Security, 601 F. App'x 783 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Brandon Hacia appeals the judgment of the District Court affirming the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of his application for disability insurance benefits, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), and supplemental security income, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1388(c)(3). The Administrative Law Judge (the “ALJ”) who adjudicated Hacia’s claim found that he had two severe impairments: primary generalized epilepsy and a cognitive disorder. The ALJ concluded that Hacia was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act (the “Act”), however, and thus was not entitled to benefits under the Act because there were a significant number of jobs that he could perform despite his impairments. Hacia requested administrative review of the ALJ’s decision but the Appeals Council denied his request. On judicial review, the Magistrate Judge recommended that the Commissioner’s decision denying benefits be affirmed. The District Court adopted the recommendation and affirmed the Commissioner’s decision.

On appeal, Hacia argues that the ALJ failed to give sufficient weight to (1) the opinion of his treating physician that he was unable to support himself due to his condition, and (2) the Department of Defense’s (the “DOD”) determination that he was entitled to medical coverage as an incapacitated adult child of a retired service member.

In reviewing the Commissioner’s decision to deny social security benefits in a particular case, the district court’s inquiry in the first instance, and ours on appellate review, is limited to determining whether the Commissioner’s findings are supported by substantial evidence and whether the Commissioner applied the correct legal *785 standards. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); Lamb v. Bowen, 847 F.2d 698, 701 (11th Cir.1988). “Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable person would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Hale v. Bowen, 831 F.2d 1007, 1011 (11th Cir.1987). “It is more than a scintilla, but less than a preponderance.” Id. “We may not decide the facts anew, reweigh the evidence, or substitute our judgment for that of the Commissioner.” Phillips v. Barnhart, 357 F.3d 1232, 1240 & n. 8 (11th Cir.2004) (quotation marks and alterations omitted).

To be eligible for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under the Act, a claimant must be disabled. 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(a)(1), 1382(a)(1)-(2). Disability is defined for the purposes of the Act as the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death, or that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d)(1)(A), 1382c(a)(3)(A). A person will be found disabled only if his physical or mental impairments are so severe that he cannot engage in any kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy. 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d)(2)(A), 1382c(a)(3)(B). The claimant bears the burden of proving that he is disabled, and thus it is his responsibility to produce evidence in support of his claim. Ellison v. Barnhart, 355 F.3d 1272, 1276 (11th Cir.2003).

In evaluating the evidence put forward by the claimant, the ALJ must give a treating physician’s opinion substantial weight — unless good cause is shown to disregard the opinion. Edwards v. Sullivan, 937 F.2d 580, 583 (11th Cir.1991). We have found good cause to exist where (1) the physician’s opinion was not bolstered by the evidence, (2) the evidence supported a contrary finding, or (3) the physician’s opinion was conclusory or inconsistent with his or her own medical records. Phillips, 357 F.3d at 1240-41. If an ALJ determines that the opinion of the treating physician is not entitled to substantial weight, he or she must clearly articulate the reasons for that conclusion. Id.

Here, the ALJ articulated several reasons supporting his decision not to give substantial weight to the opinion of Dr. Bozorg, Hacia’s treating physician. As the ALJ noted, the conclusions expressed by Dr. Bozorg in a Residual Function Capacity (“RFC”) questionnaire were not only internally inconsistent but they were also unsupported — even contradicted — by Dr. Bozorg’s treating notes in Hacia’s medical records. For example, the questionnaire states that Hacia was experiencing an average of one seizure a month without any precipitating factors, but Dr. Bozorg noted in his treating records that Hacia’s seizures were controllable with medication and opined that the seizures were due to Hacia’s noncompliance with his prescribed medication regimen. Upon reviewing the record, we cannot say that the ALJ’s conclusion that good cause existed to discount Dr. Bozorg’s opinion lacked substantial support. 1

Hacia’s second argument fares little better. A finding of disability by an *786 other agency is not binding on the Commissioner, although we have held that it should be given great weight. Bloodsworth v. Heckler, 703 F.2d 1233, 1241 (11th Cir.1983); see also 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1504, 416.904 (stating that a determination of disability by another agency is not binding on the Social Security Administration). Nor, if the other agency’s standard for determining disability deviates substantially from the Commissioner’s standard, is it error for the ALJ to give the agency’s finding less than substantial weight. Cf. Falcon v. Heckler, 732 F.2d 827, 831 (11th Cir.1984) (finding that an ALJ should have given great weight to a state agency’s disability standard because it had been construed similarly to the Commissioner’s disability standard).

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Bluebook (online)
601 F. App'x 783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brandon-e-hacia-v-commissioner-of-social-security-ca11-2015.