Pysher v. Heckler

640 F. Supp. 837, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22732
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 16, 1986
DocketCiv. A. No. 83-2445
StatusPublished

This text of 640 F. Supp. 837 (Pysher v. Heckler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pysher v. Heckler, 640 F. Supp. 837, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22732 (E.D. Pa. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CAHN, District Judge.

This is an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (1983) to review the final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“Secretary”). The Secretary denied the claimant’s applications for child’s insurance benefits and disability insurance benefits. For the reasons stated below, I will affirm the Secretary’s decision.

I.

The claimant in this case, Mr. Richard A. Pysher, applied for insurance benefits, claiming that he was disabled as the result of a childhood injury. At age 10, the claimant fell into a cesspool and sustained severe chemical burns on his legs. The claimant spent the next 18 months in the hospital, where he received over 60 skin grafts. As a result of his injury, Mr. Pysher could neither sit nor stand for a prolonged period of time. If he remained sitting or standing for an hour or more, his legs became numb and stiff.

When he left the hospital, Mr. Pysher returned to school. He continued his education until the age of 18, when he dropped out of the ninth grade. After quitting school, Mr. Pysher did not have a full time job, and he received no vocational training. He made inconsequential earnings by doing yard maintenance work, such as mowing lawns.

As a supplement to his income, Mr. Pysher received child’s insurance benefits. The claimant began receiving benefits at age 13, when his father became disabled due to an incurable lung disease. The claimant qualified for benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(l)(B)(i) because he was dependent upon his disabled father and was under the age of 18. When Mr. Pysher attained the age of 18, he reapplied for benefits. The claimant qualified under 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(l)(B)(ii) because he was dependent upon his disabled father and was himself under a disability which began before age 22. Mr. Pysher continued to receive these [839]*839benefits until 1977, when he began a nine month trial work period.

In 1977, the claimant obtained full-time employment at a textile mill as a general laborer. He lifted rolls of material weighing as much as 60 pounds and put them on a machine. He cut the material according to specified dimensions. To prepare it for shipping, he then put the material on boards. The job required him to stand most of the day. Despite his condition, Mr. Pysher was able to perform this job because his employer allowed him to take the pressure off his legs by sitting and standing when necessary. In 1981, the textile mill went out of business, and the claimant became unemployed.

Since that time, Mr. Pysher has been unsuccessful in obtaining employment. Although he did not lose his job for any health reason, the claimant stated that he could not obtain new employment because of his condition. The claimant alleged that he was disabled as a result of his injury at age 10.

Having received child’s insurance benefits until 1977, Mr. Pysher had 84 months in which to apply for reentitlement.1 See 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(6)(B). In March of 1982, Mr. Pysher filed a timely application for child’s insurance benefits and disability insurance benefits. The Office of Disability Operations of the Social Security Administration denied both claims. At the reconsideration hearing later that month, both claims were again denied.

In November of 1982, an Administrative Law Judge (“AU”) considered the case de novo. After considering the testimony and medical evidence presented at the hearing, the AU decided that Mr. Pysher’s impairment was not severe enough to preclude him from engaging in substantial gainful employment. Therefore, the AU concluded that Mr. Pysher was not disabled under the Social Security Act and not entitled to receive child’s insurance benefits or disability insurance benefits. In March of 1983, the Appeals Council denied the claimant’s request for review. Thus, the AU’s opinion became the final decision of the Secretary.

Having exhausted his administrative remedies, Mr. Pysher brought this action in federal court. The claimant asserts that the Secretary’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence and that the AU committed reversible error at the hearing. The parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

II.

The standard of judicial review is whether the Secretary’s decision was supported by substantial evidence. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (1983); Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 482 (1971); Smith v. Califano, 637 F.2d 968, 970 (3d Cir.1981). If supported by substantial evidence, the Secretary’s decision must be affirmed. Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Richardson, supra 402 U.S. at 401, 91 S.Ct. at 1427; Smith, supra at 970; Dobrowolsky v. Califano, 606 F.2d 403, 406 (3d Cir.1979).

In a disability hearing before an AU, there are shifting burdens of proof:

The claimant bears the initial burden of proving that he or she is disabled. The claimant satisfies this burden by showing that he or she cannot return to his or her customary occupation. Once this burden is met, the burden shifts to the Secretary, who must prove that the claimant can still engage in substantial gainful activity. The Secretary satisfies this burden by showing that given claimant’s age, education, and work experience, he [840]*840or she can still perform specific jobs that exist in the national economy.

Podedworny v. Harris, 745 F.2d 210, 217 (3d Cir.1984). It is not clear from the record whether the plaintiff met his initial burden of proving that he was disabled. However, the ALJ found that the Secretary met the burden of showing that the claimant’s impairment was not severe enough to preclude him from engaging in substantial gainful employment. Therefore, the AU decided that the claimant was not disabled.

After reviewing the record of the hearing, I find that there was substantial evidence supporting the AU’s decision. The four essential elements of proof are: (1) medical data; (2) medical opinions; (3) subjective complaints; and (4) the claimant’s age, education, and work experience. Newhouse v. Heckler, 580 F.Supp. 1101, 1105 (E.D.Pa.1984), remanded 785 F.2d 283 (3d Cir.1985) (citing Blalock v. Richardson, 483 F.2d 773, 776 [4th Cir.1972]); 42 U.S.C. §§ 416(i), 423.

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Related

Richardson v. Perales
402 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Alo v. United States
414 U.S. 919 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Heckler v. Campbell
461 U.S. 458 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Santise v. Schweiker
676 F.2d 925 (Third Circuit, 1982)
Newhouse v. Heckler
580 F. Supp. 1101 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1984)
Arnold v. Schweiker
571 F. Supp. 526 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1983)
Davidson v. Harris
502 F. Supp. 1208 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1980)
Davis v. Califano
439 F. Supp. 94 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1977)
Stracciolini v. Heckler
639 F. Supp. 548 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1986)
Podedworny v. Harris
745 F.2d 210 (Third Circuit, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
640 F. Supp. 837, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pysher-v-heckler-paed-1986.