Carson v. Barnhart

140 F. App'x 29
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 5, 2005
Docket04-7029
StatusUnpublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 140 F. App'x 29 (Carson v. Barnhart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carson v. Barnhart, 140 F. App'x 29 (10th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT **

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.

Claimant Bill L. Carson appeals from a district court order affirming the Social Security Commissioner’s decision denying his application for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act. Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Mr. Carson applied for benefits in June 1999, alleging an inability to work since August 1, 1998, due to severe right shoulder pain, hypertension, and prostatitis. His application was ultimately denied by an administrative law judge (ALJ) and he did not appeal that decision. Instead, he filed a second application for benefits in October 2000, again alleging he had been disabled since August 1, 1998. The agency denied this second application initially and on reconsideration. On April 23, 2002, Mr. Carson received a de novo hearing before another ALJ.

The ALJ concluded, in a decision dated June 25, 2002, that Mr. Carson suffered from severe impairments stemming from “late effects of musculoskeletal injuries with reconstruction of the [right] shoulder, hypertension, and prostatitis.” Aplt.App., Vol. II at 22. Nonetheless, the ALJ found that Mr. Carson possessed the residual functional capacity (RFC) to perform a narrow range of light work. Although this RFC precluded Mr. Carson from performing any of his past relevant work, the ALJ found that it did not prevent him from performing other work that is available in *33 the national economy. The ALJ therefore denied Mr. Carson benefits at step five of the five-step sequential evaluation process. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520; Williams v. Bowen, 844 F.2d 748, 750-52 (10th Cir. 1988) (explaining five-step process).

The Appeals Council denied Mr. Carson’s subsequent request for review. Mr. Carson then filed a complaint in federal district court, and the parties consented to having a magistrate judge decide the case. On January 20, 2004, the magistrate judge entered an order affirming the ALJ’s decision denying Mr. Carson benefits. This appeal followed.

Because the Appeals Council denied review, the ALJ’s decision is the Commissioner’s final decision for purposes of this appeal. O’Dell v. Shalala, 44 F.3d 855, 858 (10th Cir.1994). In reviewing the ALJ’s decision, “we neither reweigh the evidence nor substitute our judgment for that of the agency.” Casias v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 933 F.2d 799, 800 (10th Cir.1991). Instead, “[w]e review the Commissioner’s decision to determine whether the factual findings are supported by substantial evidence in the record and whether the correct legal standards were applied.” Doyal v. Barnhart, 331 F.3d 758, 760 (10th Cir.2003). “Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Id. (quotation omitted). Evidence is insubstantial “if it is overwhelmed by other evidence in the record or if there is a mere scintilla of evidence supporting it.” Bernal v. Bowen, 851 F.2d 297, 299 (10th Cir.1988).

Mr. Carson raises four issues on appeal. He contends the ALJ (1) failed to properly evaluate the opinions of Dr. Malati and Dr. Davis; (2) failed to perform a proper credibility analysis; (3) failed to identify jobs at step five that Mr. Carson actually could perform and that were legally sufficient to satisfy the Commissioner’s burden; and (4) reopened Mr. Carson’s prior application for disability insurance benefits. We address each issue in turn.

I. Opinions of Treating and Examining Physicians

Mr. Carson first asserts that the ALJ improperly rejected the opinions of his treating physician, Dr. Malati, and an examining physician, Dr. Davis, without pointing to any contradictory medical evidence in the record. He also asserts that the ALJ improperly rejected his treating physician’s opinion without “ ‘providing specific, legitimate reasons’ for doing so.” Aplt. Opening Br. at 23 (quoting Doyal, 331 F.3d at 764).

A treating source opinion is to be given controlling weight only if it is “well-supported by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques and is not inconsistent with the other substantial evidence in [the] record.” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(d)(2); see also Watkins v. Barnhart, 350 F.3d 1297, 1300 (10th Cir. 2003) (outlining framework for ALJ’s controlling weight determination); Langley v. Barnhart, 373 F.3d 1116, 1119 (10th Cir. 2004) (stating that “an ALJ must give good reasons ... for the weight assigned to a treating physician’s opinion, that are sufficiently specific to make clear to any subsequent reviewers the weight the adjudicator gave to the treating source’s medical opinion and the reason for that weight”) (quotations omitted, alteration in original); Robinson v. Barnhart, 366 F.3d 1078, 1084 (10th Cir.2004) (explaining that treating physician’s opinion is generally entitled to greater weight than examining physician’s opinion).

Contrary to Mr. Carson’s understanding, the ALJ in this case did not reject the opinions of Dr. Malati and Dr. *34 Davis. Rather, the ALJ declined to give either doctor’s opinion controlling weight. In so doing, the ALJ explained that he did “not give much weight to the limitations Dr. Malati and Dr. Davis assessed [to be] flowing from” the diagnoses of “reconstruction of the shoulder times two, prostatitis and hypertension” because, after thoroughly reviewing and recounting the record evidence, the ALJ found their opinions to be based on exaggerated symptoms related to them by Mr. Carson. Aplt. App., Vol. II at 29 (emphasis added); see also id. at 205-06 (demonstrating Dr. Davis’s reliance upon Mr. Carson’s views of his ailments).

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140 F. App'x 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carson-v-barnhart-ca10-2005.