Lopez v. Astrue

854 F. Supp. 2d 415, 2012 WL 1207393, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31439
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 8, 2012
DocketNo. 4:10-CV-921-A
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 854 F. Supp. 2d 415 (Lopez v. Astrue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lopez v. Astrue, 854 F. Supp. 2d 415, 2012 WL 1207393, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31439 (N.D. Tex. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER

JOHN McBRYDE, District Judge.

Before the court for decision is the complaint of plaintiff, Robert Lopez, Jr., seeking judicial review of the final decision of Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security (“Commissioner”), denying his claim for disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act (“Act”). The court has concluded that Commissioner’s decision should be affirmed.

I.

Background

The Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) decided on February 4, 2009, that “[biased on the application for a period of disability and disability insurance benefits protectively filed on December 27, 2006, the [plaintiff] is not disabled under sections 216(i) and 223(d) of the Social Security Act.” R. at 20. The Appeals Council denied plaintiffs request for review on May 21, 2010, and the February 4, 2009 decision of the ALJ became the final decision of the Commissioner. Id. at 3.1

Plaintiff instituted this action December 6, 2010, complaining of Commissioner’s decision. The matter was referred to the United States Magistrate Judge for proposed findings and conclusions and a recommendation for disposition. The magistrate judge ordered that plaintiffs complaint be treated as an appeal from the Commissioner’s decision, and fixed a timetable for the filing of briefs. Both sides timely filed briefs. The magistrate judge issued his proposed findings and conclusions and his recommendation (“FC & R”) that the decision of the Commissioner be reversed and remanded- “for the sole purpose of determining the amount of benefits to be awarded to [plaintiff] under the Act.” FC & R at 12. Although neither party filed objections, the court ordered the Commissioner to file a response to the FC & R. The Commissioner timely filed his response, to which plaintiff filed a reply.

II.

Positions Taken by the Parties and the FC & R

A. Plaintiffs Brief

Plaintiff defines in his brief filed with the magistrate judge the issues to be decided as follows:

First Issue:
The ALJ Failed To Properly Consider Expert Medical Opinion In Determining Residual Functional Capacity.

[419]*419Pl.’s Appeal from the Decision of the Comm’r of Soc. Sec. (“Pl.’s Appeal”) at 7.

Second Issue:
The Commissioner Failed to Properly Evaluate Credibility.

Id. at 10.

Third Issue:
The ALJ Used an Improper Standard to Evaluate the Plaintiffs Impairments.

Id. at 13.

Summed up, plaintiffs argument in support of the first issue was that the ALJ failed to properly apply legal standards governing the evaluation of, and weight to be given to, the opinions of his treating physician, James Bohnsack, M.D. (“Bohnsack”), and the testifying medical expert, John Simonds, M.D. (“Simonds”). Bohnsack and Simonds both opined that plaintiff was limited to sedentary work. However, in determining plaintiffs Residual Functional Capacity (“RFC”), the ALJ concluded that plaintiff was able to perform light work.

In support of the second issue, plaintiff argued that the ALJ failed to articulate the reasons why he found plaintiffs testimony to not be credible. According to plaintiff, the ALJ failed to follow the procedure for evaluating plaintiffs subjective complaints and failed to articulate credible reasons for rejecting those complaints.

In support of the third issue, plaintiff argued that the ALJ failed to properly evaluate plaintiffs severe impairments as required by Stone v. Heckler, 752 F.2d 1099 (5th Cir.1985), and that the ALJ’s failure may have caused him to overlook plaintiffs anxiety, bilateral inguinal hernia, and need to elevate his legs. Thus, according to plaintiff, the ALJ failed to consider all of plaintiffs vocationally significant impairments and failed to fully assess his residual functional capacity.

B. Commissioner’s Responsive Brief

Commissioner responded that the ALJ properly considered all of the medical evidence in the record in deciding not to give controlling weight to the opinions of Bohnsack or Simonds. Commissioner argued that substantial evidence supported the ALJ’s credibility determination, that the ALJ correctly applied the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Stone, and that the ALJ properly considered all of plaintiffs impairments.

C. TheFC&R

The recommendation of the magistrate judge was that Commissioner’s decision be reversed and that the matter be remanded for the sole purpose of determining the amount of benefits to which plaintiff was entitled. The magistrate judge considered the issues to be decided to be:

1. Whether the ALJ properly considered the relevant medical opinions of record;
2. Whether the ALJ properly evaluated [plaintiffs] credibility; and,
3. Whether the ALJ properly included all of [plaintiffs] severe impairments in his analysis at Step Two.2

FC & R at 4.

Under the first issue the magistrate judge considered plaintiffs argument to be [420]*420that because the ALJ failed properly to evaluate the medical opinions of Bohnsack and Simonds, neither the ALJ’s RFC determination nor his ultimate conclusion that plaintiff was not disabled were supported by substantial evidence. As to the first issue, the magistrate judge concluded that the ALJ failed to evaluate and give proper weight to the opinions of Bohnsack and Simonds without adequate explanation or assessment, in that they limited plaintiff to sedentary work, while the ALJ limited plaintiff to light work with additional restrictions. The magistrate judge found no medical-opinion evidence on which the ALJ relied in rejecting the opinions of Bohnsack or Simonds, and thus concluded the ALJ was required to specifically analyze the factors set forth in 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(d). The magistrate judge concluded that the ALJ’s failure to do so violated the requirements set forth by the Fifth Circuit in Newton v. Apfel, 209 F.3d 448 (5th Cir.2000).

The magistrate judge further concluded that the ALJ’s improper evaluation of the relevant medical opinions led him to utilize the wrong table under Medical-Vocational Rule 201.14, found in 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, App. 2. The ALJ used Table 2-Residual Functional Capacity: Maximum Sustained Work Capacity Limited to Light Work as a Result of Severe Medically Determinable Impairment(s), when he should have used Table 1 — Residual Functional Capacity: Maximum Sustained Work Capacity-Limited to Sedentary Work as a Result of Severe Medically Determinable Impairment(s).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
854 F. Supp. 2d 415, 2012 WL 1207393, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31439, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lopez-v-astrue-txnd-2012.