Sharen A. Postels v. JoAnne B. Barnhart

55 F. App'x 392

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: January 22, 2003
• Docket: 02-2888
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

[UNPUBLISHED]

PER CURIAM.

In 1999, Sharon A. Postéis sought disability insurance benefits asserting mental disorders disabled her beginning on June 15, 1981. An ALJ found Postéis did not show she had any impairment that significantly limited her ability to perform basic work activities before March 31, 1987, her last date insured. The ALJ thus concluded Postéis was not entitled to benefits. See Basinger v. Heckler, 725 F.2d 1166, 1168 (8th Cir.1984). The Appeals Council denied further review. Postéis sought judicial review, and the district court * held substantial evidence supported the decision to deny benefits.

On appeal, Postéis contends the ALJ committed error in rejecting the opinions of her treating physicians and in terminating the analysis before considering vocational factors. Having carefully reviewed the record, we conclude the ALJ properly determined that Postéis did not show she suffered from a severe mental impairment before her insured status expired on March 31, 1987. The ALJ properly rejected the retrospective testimony of Postels’s treating physicians because they had limited contact with Postéis during the relevant time period. Because Postels’s impairment would have had no more than a minimal effect on her ability to work, the ALJ properly terminated the analysis after determining she had no severe impairment. Nguyen v. Chater, 75 F.3d 429, 431 (8th Cir.1996).

Substantial evidence on the record as a whole supports the denial of benefits, thus we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

A true copy.

* The Honorable Charles R. Wolle, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa.