Dones-Vazquez v. Commissioner

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: October 16, 2000
• Docket: 99-2338
• Status: Published

Opinion

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION–NOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]

United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit

No. 99-2338

IRMA DONES-VAZQUEZ,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Selya, Circuit Judge, Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge, and Boudin, Circuit Judge.

Melba N. Rivera-Camacho on brief for appellant. Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Lilliam E. Mendoza Toro, Assistant United States Attorney, and Nancy B. Salafia, Assistant Regional Counsel, Social Security Administration, on brief for appellee. October 13, 2000

Per Curiam. After carefully reviewing the briefs

and record on appeal, we affirm the Commissioner’s decision.

The administrative law judge (ALJ) was not obligated to

give controlling weight to the treating psychiatrist’s

opinion, inasmuch as the record contained conflicting

evidence. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(d)(2). Moreover, the

ALJ’s finding of adequate mental status was supported by

substantial evidence. No more was exigible, though a

contrary conclusion might also have been reasonable. See,

e.g., Manso-Pizarro v. Secretary of Health and Human

Services, 76 F.3d 15 (1st Cir. 1996); Perez v. Secretary of

Health and Human Services, 958 F.2d 445 (1 st Cir. 1991);

Irlanda Oritz v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 955

F.2d 765 (1st Cir. 1991).

We add that the medical expert properly considered

whether the appellant’s obesity qualified as a listed

condition, but concluded that it did not. The appellant’s

weight fell twenty-six pounds shy of the requirement. The

appellant also fails to make a plausible argument that her

combination of impairments equaled a listed condition. The

medical expert found no severe limitation in the range of motion in her hips and knees, her weight was under the

listed minimum, and the ALJ reasonably concluded that her

mental status was not markedly limited. We need go no

further.

Affirmed. See Loc. R. 27 (c).

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