Christine Kensinger v. Michelle King

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: February 12, 2025
• Docket: 24-2113
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 24-2113 ___________________________

Christine Louise Kensinger

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant

v.

Michelle King, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration1; Judge Walter Hellums, Administrative Law Judge

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield ____________

Submitted: February 6, 2025 Filed: February 12, 2025 [Unpublished] ____________

Before LOKEN, KELLY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

1 Michelle King has been appointed to serve as Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, and is substituted as appellee pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c). Christine Kensinger appeals the district court’s2 order affirming the denial of disability insurance benefits. We agree with the court that substantial evidence in the record as a whole supports the adverse decision. See Swink v. Saul, 931 F.3d 765, 769 (8th Cir. 2019) (standard of review).

Specifically, we find that substantial evidence supported the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ’s) conclusion that Kensinger’s exposure to mold was not a severe impairment. See Page v. Astrue, 484 F.3d 1040, 1044 (8th Cir. 2007). The ALJ did not err in discounting the medical opinions on housing assistance forms, which did not identify specific functional limitations, and used a definition of “disability” that differs from the definition of “disability” in the Social Security Act. See 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1); KKC v. Colvin, 818 F.3d 364, 371 (8th Cir. 2016). While Kensinger also argues that the ALJ erred in failing to consider records from her chiropractic provider, that is not an acceptable medical source for determining disability. See Miller v. Colvin, 784 F.3d 472, 478 (8th Cir. 2015); Craig v. Apfel, 212 F.3d 433, 436 (8th Cir. 2000).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court. We also deny Kensinger’s motion to supplement the record on appeal. ______________________________

2 The Honorable Brian C. Wimes, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.

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