Logan v. Barnhart

72 F. App'x 488
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 14, 2003
DocketNo. 03-1798
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 72 F. App'x 488 (Logan v. Barnhart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Logan v. Barnhart, 72 F. App'x 488 (7th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

ORDER

Kathleen Logan filed an application for disability benefits, alleging that a spastic gait and a history of ovarian cancer prevented her from working. Her application was denied initially and on reconsideration. Logan then requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”), who found her ineligible for benefits because her insured status expired before her impairments became disabling. The district court upheld the ALJ’s decision. Logan appeals, and we affirm.

The primary dispute between the parties is whether Logan was insured when her impairments developed. Logan alleged an onset date of January 30, 1997, but the ALJ concluded that she began suffering severe impairments no earlier than July 1997. The parties do not dispute that Logan’s insured status expired on June 30, 1997. Thus Logan is entitled to benefits only if she can demonstrate that she became disabled before June 30, 1997. Estok v. Apfel, 152 F.3d 636, 638 (7th Cir. 1998); Stevenson v. Chater, 105 F.3d 1151, 1154 (7th Cir.1997).

At the time her insured status expired, Logan was fifty-four years old and-at 5 foot 8 inches tall and 240 pounds- obese. She had performed sedentary work as a customer service representative for an insurance agency from 1982 to 1991. Her most recent employment as a greeting card stocker kept her on her feet for much of the work day. Logan held that position from May 1994 until February 1995, when the greeting card company went bankrupt. Logan has not worked since the company dissolved.

Logan claims that she cannot work because of discomfort in her left leg. As a result of a spastic gait, she limps and has difficulty using stairs and stepping over objects in her path. She testified before the ALJ that she cannot pick up anything heavier than a gallon of milk, that she can “maybe” walk a block, and that her legs “go to sleep” when she sits for more than an hour at a time.

Although Logan’s application for benefits specified a disability onset date of January 1997, she testified before the ALJ that she was not certain that her problems with her left leg began before her insured status expired on June 30, 1997. She recalls an incident in late 1996 or early 1997 when-as a passenger in a car that came to an abrupt hatt>-she “jamm[ed]” her foot to the floor; she believes her limp began shortly thereafter.

According to Logan, her symptoms worsened progressively, but she resisted seeking medical treatment for many months because she had no health insurance. Logan had visited her family physician, Dr. Jeffrey Mozweez, in 1994 for treatment of chest spasms and in December 1997 for treatment of a urinary tract infection. But Dr. Mozwecz’s notes from these visits make no mention of Logan’s leg. Logan did not seek medical advice about her leg until January 1998, several months after the expiration of her insured status.

According to the notes of Dr. A.J. Largosa, a staff physician at a public health clinic, Logan stated that she began experiencing “discomfort” in her left leg in July 1997. A series of knee x-rays showed “mild arthritic change” and a suggestion of [490]*490early chondromalacia,1 but “[t]he bony structures [were] intact,” and the radiological findings were otherwise normal. Dr. Largosa referred Logan to Dr. Daniel Girzadas, an orthopedic specialist. Dr. Girzadas doubted that Logan was suffering from an orthopedic disease; because he suspected that the weakness in Logan’s left leg could be the result of a neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis, Dr. Girzadas referred Logan to Dr. Melvin Wichter, a neurologist.

Dr. Wichter observed that, although Logan reported no pain in her left leg, she walked with a “mild spastic gait,” her reflexes were slightly brisker on the left side, and her left toe was “decidedly upgoing.” Dr. Wichter recommended further medical workup, including an MRI of the brain and the upper spinal cord, to pinpoint the cause of Logan’s symptoms.

In April 1999, before Logan had the recommended MRI, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent a hysterectomy. Following the surgery, Logan received a six-month course of chemotherapy. After she recovered from her operation, she continued to experience weakness in her leg and a spastic gait. In August 1999, Logan finally underwent the MRI, which showed “mild diffuse cerebral and cerebellar atrophy”, but no evidence of multiple sclerosis, vascular disease, or metastasis of the cancer to the brain. Based on the results of the MRI and the fact that Logan had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Dr. Wichter opined that Logan’s spastic gait could be the result of a para-neoplastic syndrome2 related to the cancer. Logan’s oncologist, however, doubted that the spastic gait was related to the cancer, and none of Logan’s doctors has conclusively pinpointed the cause of her leg problems.

Logan filed her application for disability benefits in June 1999, alleging an onset date of January 1997. When her application was denied, Logan requested and received a hearing before an ALJ. After considering the evidence, the ALJ determined that Logan suffered from a neurological disorder manifested by her spastic gait and that she had a history of ovarian cancer. But although the ALJ found these impairments to be severe, he concluded that they were not severe enough to meet or equal any impairment listed as disabling in Appendix I, Subpart P of the Social Security regulations.

The ALJ noted that, although Logan identified January 30, 1997 as her onset date, she did not consult a doctor about her leg until January 1998 and conceded in her own testimony that her spastic gait possibly did not manifest itself until after June 30, 1997. Based on Logan’s testimony and the medical evidence, the ALJ found that Logan’s allegations about disabling limitations prior to July 1997 were not credible. He further determined that, prior to the expiration of her insured status, Logan retained the residual functional capacity to perform her past work as an insurance agent which involved only sedentary job tasks. Accordingly, the ALJ denied Logan’s request for benefits.

We will not overturn an ALJ’s denial of benefits as long as the decision is supported by substantial evidence. Johansen v. Barnhart, 314 F.3d 283, 287 (7th Cir. 2002). “Substantial evidence” is evidence [491]*491sufficient to convince a reasonable person that the ALJ’s findings are adequate. Id. An ALJ need not address every single piece of evidence in the record, but his analysis must build an accurate and logical bridge between the evidence and his findings. Zurawski v. Halter, 245 F.3d 881, 887 (7th Cir.2001).

On appeal Logan argues that the ALJ ignored substantial evidence in the record supporting a conclusion that she was disabled prior to the expiration of her insured status. According to Logan, the ALJ concentrated solely on her spastic gait and ignored evidence of additional impairments, including obesity, brain atrophy, limited range of motion in the right arm, and chest spasms.

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72 F. App'x 488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/logan-v-barnhart-ca7-2003.