McCarthy v. Colvin

66 F. Supp. 3d 315, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159799, 2014 WL 6065675
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedNovember 13, 2014
DocketNo. 13-CV-06467 (MAT)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 66 F. Supp. 3d 315 (McCarthy v. Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCarthy v. Colvin, 66 F. Supp. 3d 315, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159799, 2014 WL 6065675 (W.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

MICHAEL A. TELESCA, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, Michael McCarthy (“plaintiff’ or “McCarthy”), brings this action under Title II of the Social Security Act (“the Act”), claiming that the Commissioner of Social Security (“Commissioner” or “defendant”) improperly denied his application for disability insurance benefits (“DIB”).

Currently before the Court are the parties’ competing motions for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons set forth below, plaintiffs motion is granted and, the Commissioner’s motion is denied. This action is remanded to the [317]*317Commissioner for calculation and payment of benefits.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 27, 2009, plaintiff filed an application for DIB alleging disability as of July 10, 2006 due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”), depression, anxiety disorder, and the following left shoulder conditions: impingement, partial tear of the distal supraspinatus tendon, and acromioclavicular arthropathy. Administrative Transcript [T.] 71, 72-75, 128-131, 156. Following a denial of that application, a hearing was held at plaintiffs request on June 9, 2011 before administrative law judge (“ALJ”) Michael W. Devlin. The ALJ heard the testimony of plaintiff and a vocational expert (“VE”). T. 35-70.

Considering the case de novo and applying the five-step analysis contained in the Social Security Administration’s regulations (see 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520, 416.920), the ALJ made the following findings: (1) plaintiff last met the insured status requirements of the Act on June 30, 2009; (2) he did not engage in substantial gainful activity since the date of the onset of his alleged disability, July 10, 2006 through his date of last insured, June 30, 2009; (3) plaintiffs left shoulder impingement, left shoulder partial tear of the distal supraspi-natus tendon; left shoulder acromioclavi-cular arthropathy, COPD, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and alcohol use were severe impairments through the last date insured; (4) his impairments, singly or combined, did not meet or medically equal the severity of any impairments listed in 20 C.F.R. Part 404; and (5) plaintiff had the residual functional capacity to perform sedentary work as defined in 20 C.F.R. 404.157(a). T. 23.

With respect to finding number four, the ALJ specifically found that plaintiffs arm and shoulder impairments did not cause the inability to manipulate items effectively, nor did plaintiffs COPD meet the necessary criteria. T. 23. The ALJ further found that plaintiffs mental impairments did not meet the “paragraph B” criteria, causing at least two marked limitations or one marked limitation and repeated episodes of decompensation. T. 24.

Plaintiff appealed the ALJ’s decision, and the Appeals Council affirmed on April 26, 2013. T. 1-7. This action ensued.

DISCUSSION

I. General Legal Principles

42 U.S.C. § 405(g) grants jurisdiction to district courts to hear claims based on the denial of Social Security benefits. Section 405(g) provides that the District Court “shall have the power to enter, upon the pleadings and transcript of the record, a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing.” 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (2007). The section directs that when considering such a claim, the Court must accept the findings of fact made by the Commissioner, provided that such findings are supported by substantial evidence in the record.

When determining whether the Commissioner’s findings are supported by substantial evidence, the Court’s task is “ ‘to examine the entire record, including contradictory evidence and evidence from which conflicting inferences can be drawn.’ ” Brown v. Apfel, 174 F.3d 59, 62 (2d Cir.1999), quoting Mongeur v. Heckler, 722 F.2d 1033, 1038 (2d Cir.1983) (per curiam). Section 405(g) limits the scope of the Court’s review to two inquiries: whether the Commissioner’s findings were supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole and whether the Commissioner’s conclusions are based upon an [318]*318erroneous legal standard. See Green-Younger.v. Barnhart, 335 F.3d 99, 105-06 (2d Cir.2003).

II. Relevant Medical Evidence

In October 2006, plaintiff underwent a chest x-ray at Southview Internal Medicine that showed a “right middle lobe infíl-trate.” T. 376. In February 2007, plaintiff saw his treating physician Judith Allen, M.D. (“Dr. Allen”) of the University at Rochester Medical Center (“URMC”), who diagnosed him with hypertension, anxiety and alcohol abuse. T. 317-318.

On April 16, 2007, plaintiff was hospitalized for an intentional drug overdose. T. 337-341. Hospital treatment notes reveal that plaintiff was depressed, and that he was clinically assessed with “ethanol intoxication” and “suicide ideation.” T. 341. In August 2007, Dr. Allen assessed plaintiffs anxiety, hypertension, alcohol abuse and depression. T. 316. In November 2007, Dr. Allen reviewed his medications and addressed his chronic pain, “increased stress,” and ongoing depression, anxiety, and sleeping difficulties. T. 313. She noted that plaintiff would be “delivering for UPS,” but commented that he was “[n]ot doing well with pain.” T. 313. Dr. Allen assessed his anxiety, hypertension, alcohol abuse, and depression, and instructed him to follow up with her in two months. T. 313-314.

On April 2, 2008, plaintiff underwent a chest x-ray that showed a “nodular opacity” superimposed over his left fifth rib. T. 374. Several days later, plaintiff was treated by Joanne Bergen, P.A. at URMC, and she noted that plaintiff was experiencing head and facial pain, hearing loss, pressure and fullness in the ears and chronic wheezing. T. 308. She reported that he was “[ajcutely ill.” T. 309. With respect to plaintiffs lungs, Ms. Bergen noted that “[p]ulmonary ausculation revealed abnormalities in his lower lobes with scattered wheezing.” She diagnosed plaintiff with pneumonia and bronchos-pasm and commented that his smoking cessation seemed to be going well. T. 309.

In May 2008, URMC treatment notes reveal that plaintiff was diagnosed with chronic cough and possible COPD. T. 307. When plaintiff saw Dr. Allen in November 2008, she noted that, overall, he was doing well and planning to return to UPS in December. T. 304.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 F. Supp. 3d 315, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159799, 2014 WL 6065675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccarthy-v-colvin-nywd-2014.