(SS) Alva McGee v. Commissioner of Social Security

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJuly 25, 2022
Docket1:20-cv-01543
StatusUnknown

This text of (SS) Alva McGee v. Commissioner of Social Security ((SS) Alva McGee v. Commissioner of Social Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
(SS) Alva McGee v. Commissioner of Social Security, (E.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

2 3

4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 ALVA MCGEE, Case No. 1:20-cv-001543-EPG 13 Plaintiff, FINAL JUDGMENT AND ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S SOCIAL 14 v. SECURITY COMPLAINT 15 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, (ECF Nos. 1, 14).

16 Defendant. 17 18 19 This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s complaint for judicial review of an 20 unfavorable decision by the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration regarding her 21 application for Supplemental Security Income benefits. The parties have consented to entry of 22 final judgment by the United States Magistrate Judge under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) 23 with any appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (ECF No. 17). 24 Plaintiff presents the following issues: 25 1) Whether the ALJ failed to provide legally sufficient reasoning in weighing the 26 medical opinions; 2) Whether the ALJ provided clear and convincing reasoning to reject the testimony of the plaintiff; 3) Whether these failures were harmful; and 4) 27 Whether this case should be remanded for payment of benefits or further proceedings. 28 2 the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, the Court finds as follows: 3 I. ANALYSIS 4 A. Medical Opinions 5 1. Standards of review 6 Plaintiff argues that the ALJ erred in evaluating the medical opinions in this case by (1) 7 relying on non-examining physicians’ opinions as substantial evidence and (2) failing to provide 8 legally sufficient reasons for rejecting the opinions of examining physician Dr. Steven Stoltz. 9 (ECF No. 14, p. 9). 10 As an initial matter, the parties disagree as to the standards that guide this Court’s review. 11 Plaintiff cites regulations, 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527 and 20 C.F.R. 416.927, that give more weight to 12 medical opinions based on sources who examine and treat a plaintiff. (ECF No. 14, p. 5). 13 Likewise, Plaintiff cites case authority that requires an ALJ to provide clear and convincing or 14 specific and legitimate reasons for rejecting treating and examining medical opinions. (ECF No. 15 16 14, p.6); see Ryan v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 528 F.3d 1194, 1198 (9th Cir. 2008) (“To reject [the] 17 uncontradicted opinion of a treating or examining doctor, an ALJ must state clear and convincing 18 reasons that are supported by substantial evidence. If a treating or examining doctor’s opinion is 19 contradicted by another doctor’s opinion, an ALJ may only reject it by providing specific and 20 legitimate reasons that are supported by substantial evidence.”) (alteration in original and internal 21 citations omitted); Murray v. Heckler, 722 F.2d 499, 502 (9th Cir. 1983) (“If the ALJ wishes to 22 disregard the opinion of the treating physician, he or she must make findings setting forth 23 specific, legitimate reasons for doing so that are based on substantial evidence in the record.”). 24 However, Defendant argues that new regulations govern this case and displace the 25 articulation requirements in the above case authority. (ECF No. 19, p. 4). The Court agrees with 26 Defendant. 27 Importantly, the regulations that Plaintiff cites apply only to claims filed before March 27, 28 2 as the record reflects, she filed her application on June 1, 2018. (ECF No. 14, p. 3); (A.R. 15, 3 204). Accordingly, the agency’s “new” regulations—concerning how ALJs must evaluate 4 medical opinions for claims filed on or after March 27, 2017—govern this case. 20 C.F.R. 5 §§ 404.1520c, 416.920c. These regulations set “supportability” and “consistency” as “the most 6 important factors” when determining an opinion’s persuasiveness. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520c(b)(2), 7 416.920c(b)(2). And although the regulations eliminate the “physician hierarchy,” deference to 8 specific medical opinions, and assigning “weight” to a medical opinion, the ALJ must still 9 “articulate how [he or she] considered the medical opinions” and “how persuasive [he or she] 10 find[s] all of the medical opinions.” 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520c(a)-(b); 416.920c(a)-(b). 11 As for the case authority preceding the new regulations that required an ALJ to provide 12 clear and convincing or specific and legitimate reasons for rejecting certain medical opinions, the 13 Ninth Circuit has concluded that it does not apply to claims governed by the new regulations: 14 The revised social security regulations are clearly irreconcilable with our caselaw 15 according special deference to the opinions of treating and examining physicians 16 on account of their relationship with the claimant. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520c(a) (“We will not defer or give any specific evidentiary weight, including controlling 17 weight, to any medical opinion(s) . . ., including those from your medical sources.”). Our requirement that ALJs provide “specific and legitimate reasons” 18 for rejecting a treating or examining doctor’s opinion, which stems from the 19 special weight given to such opinions, see Murray, 722 F.2d at 501–02, is likewise incompatible with the revised regulations. Insisting that ALJs provide a more 20 robust explanation when discrediting evidence from certain sources necessarily favors the evidence from those sources—contrary to the revised regulations. 21 Woods v. Kijakazi, 32 F.4th 785, 792 (9th Cir. 2022). Accordingly, under the new regulations, 22 “the decision to discredit any medical opinion, must simply be supported by substantial 23 24 evidence.” Id. at 787. “Substantial evidence means more than a scintilla but less than a 25 preponderance.” Thomas v. Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947, 954 (9th Cir. 2002). It is “relevant evidence 26 which, considering the record as a whole, a reasonable person might accept as adequate to support 27 a conclusion.” Id. 28 In conjunction with this requirement, “[t]he agency must ‘articulate . . . . how persuasive’ 2 and ‘explain how [it] considered the supportability and consistency factors’ in reaching these 3 findings, id. § 404.1520c(b)(2).” Woods, 32 F.4th at 792. 4 Supportability means the extent to which a medical source supports the medical opinion by explaining the “relevant . . . objective medical evidence. Id. 5 § 404.1520c(c)(1). Consistency means the extent to which a medical opinion is 6 “consistent . . . with the evidence from other medical sources and nonmedical sources in the claim. Id. § 404.1520c(c)(2). 7 Id. at 791-92.1 8 Accordingly, the Court will review the issues raised by the Plaintiff under the above 9 standards. 10 2. Analysis 11 a. Reliance on non-examining physicians’ opinions 12 Turning to the merits, Plaintiff argues that the ALJ improperly relied on non-examining 13 physicians’ opinions as substantial evidence. This argument concerns the ALJ’s determination of 14 15 Plaintiff’s residual functional capacity “to perform light work as defined in 20 CFR 416

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
(SS) Alva McGee v. Commissioner of Social Security, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ss-alva-mcgee-v-commissioner-of-social-security-caed-2022.