Cansio v. Shalala

833 F. Supp. 764, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17859, 1993 WL 410722
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJuly 22, 1993
DocketNo. CV 92-6906-(E)
StatusPublished

This text of 833 F. Supp. 764 (Cansio v. Shalala) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cansio v. Shalala, 833 F. Supp. 764, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17859, 1993 WL 410722 (C.D. Cal. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

EICK, United States Magistrate Judge.

PROCEEDINGS

Plaintiff filed a complaint on November 19, 1992, seeking review of the Secretary’s denial of benefits. The parties filed a consent to proceed before a United States Magistrate Judge on January 29, 1993.

On May 24, 1993, Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. On June 23, 1993, Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. The Court has taken both motions under submission without oral argument. See L.R. 7.11.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff sought SSI benefits, alleging diffuse physical impairments (Administrative Record (“AR”) 56, 29-32). Dr. Sarah Maze, who performed an internal medicine evaluation of Plaintiff, essentially concluded there was nothing physically wrong with Plaintiff (AR 134-39). Dr. Maze personally observed Plaintiff feign disabling symptomatology (AR 137-39).

Following a hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) concluded Plaintiff did not suffer from any medically determinable physical impairment (AR 200). The ALJ found Plaintiffs subjective complaints not credible (AR 200-202). The ALJ relied upon the testimony of a vocational expert in identifying jobs Plaintiff assertedly could perform (AR 202-203).

Following this decision, Plaintiff obtained a “psychological evaluation” from Dr. Victor C. Sanchez (AR 212-15). Dr. Sanchez administered a Leiter International Performance Scale Test, which yielded an I.Q. score of 55 (AR 213). Dr. Sanchez suggested Plaintiffs depression was a factor of unknown significance in lowering Plaintiffs test score. Id. Dr. Sanchez diagnosed “major depression— recurrent — moderate” (AR 214).

According to the Appeals Council, Dr. Sanchez’s report suggested that Plaintiffs “general intellectual functioning might be significantly subaverage” (AR 210). The Appeals Council remanded the case to the ALJ to obtain a Wechsler intelligence test. Id. The Appeals Council directed that the Spanish language version of the Wechsler test be administered to Plaintiff. Id.

Dr. Michael J. Perrotti then examined Plaintiff (AR 225-30). Dr. Perrotti administered the English language version of the Wechsler test, translated by a Spanish language interpreter. Id. Plaintiff scored 59 (AR 227). Dr. Perrotti observed Plaintiff was uncooperative and gave extremely anomalous responses during the test (AR 228-29). Dr. Perrotti felt Plaintiff was manipu-[767]*767latíve and “could do much better than she did on the testing” (AR 230).

Following another hearing, the ALJ again found Plaintiff not disabled (AR 10-12). The ALJ deemed all of the intelligence tests to be “invalid based upon [Plaintiffs] failure to cooperate and based on her manipulative voluntary actions” (AR 12). The ALJ rejected Dr. Sanchez’s diagnosis of major depression (AR 11-15). The Appeals Council denied review, thereby affirming the ALJ’s decision (AR 4-5).

PLAINTIFF’S CONTENTIONS

Plaintiff contends:

1. Plaintiff should have been given the Spanish language version of the Weeh-sler test;

2. The ALJ erred in finding the intelligence testing invalid; Plaintiffs test results meet or equal Listing 12.05; -and

3. The ALJ improperly rejected Dr. Sanchez’s opinion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under 42 U.S.C. section 405(g), this Court reviews the Secretary’s decision to determine if: (1) the Secretary’s findings are supported by substantial evidence; and (2) the Secretary used proper legal standards. Swanson v. Secretary, 763 F.2d 1061, 1064 (9th Cir.1985). Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971). This Court cannot disturb the Secretary’s findings if those findings are supported by substantial evidence, even though there may exist other evidence supporting Plaintiffs claim. See Torske v. Richardson, 484 F.2d 59, 60 (9th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 933, 94 S.Ct. 2646, 41 L.Ed.2d 237 (1974); Harvey v. Richardson, 451 F.2d 589, 590 (9th Cir.1971).

DISCUSSION

In this case, the issue of whether Plaintiff truly is disabled or merely is feigning disability hinges largely upon Plaintiffs credibility. The ALJ’s credibility determination should be given “great weight.” See Nyman v. Heckler, 779 F.2d 528, 531 (9th Cir.1986). The ALJ’s rejection of Plaintiffs credibility is supported by evidence that Plaintiff has feigned physical limitations and exaggerated mental limitations. See Copeland v. Bowen, 861 F.2d 536, 541 (9th Cir.1988) (ALJ’s rejection of claimant’s credibility upheld where claimant.had alleged a limitation “disparate from that observed by the consultative examiner”).

Plaintiff apparently no longer argues she is physically disabled. The record contains substantial evidence she also is not mentally disabled. Dr. Ross diagnosed Plaintiffs alleged depression as a presumably transitory grief reaction to her mother’s death (AR 177). Other doctors concurred that Plaintiffs alleged mental problems were nonexistent or not severe (AR 63-64, 91-93; see also AR 138). Plaintiff completed several grades in elementary school without being placed in special classes or being diagnosed as mentally retarded (AR 116, 131). Dr. Perrotti opined Plaintiff “could do much better than she did on the [intelligence] testing” (AR 230).

.[6] The ALJ properly found that Plaintiffs uncooperativeness and voluntary manipulation invalidated all intelligence tests administered to Plaintiff.1 See Soto v. Secretary, 795 F.2d 219, 222 (1st Cir.1986) (Secretary “is not obliged to accept the results of claimant’s IQ tests if there is a substantial basis for believing that claimant was feigning the results”); Popp v. Heckler, 779 F.2d 1497, 1500 (11th Cir.1986) (ALJ may reject results of IQ test as invalid even where psychologist who administered the test did not comment on the test’s validity); Strunk v. Heckler, 732 F.2d 1357, 1360 (7th Cir.1984) (ALJ may reject results of IQ test based on conflicting evidence and questions concerning claimant’s credibility).

Since the ALJ properly found the intelligence test results invalid, the ALJ correctly found Plaintiff does not meet or equal [768]

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Related

Richardson v. Perales
402 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Harvey v. Richardson
451 F.2d 589 (Ninth Circuit, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
833 F. Supp. 764, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17859, 1993 WL 410722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cansio-v-shalala-cacd-1993.