Stallins v. Celebrezze

227 F. Supp. 138, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7182
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 31, 1964
DocketCiv. A. No. 1324
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 227 F. Supp. 138 (Stallins v. Celebrezze) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stallins v. Celebrezze, 227 F. Supp. 138, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7182 (W.D. Ky. 1964).

Opinion

SHELBOURNE, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Shelby P. Stallins, brought this action under Section 205(g) of the Social Security Act (Section 405 (g), Title 42 United States Code), seeking review of a final decision of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare holding that plaintiff is not entitled to a period of disability or disability insurance benefits for which he made application on July 10, 1961. The Secretary’s decision was based upon the Hearing Examiner’s decision of October 25, 1962, which became final upon denial of plaintiff’s request for review by the Appeals Council on January 28, 1963. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment and the case was submitted to the Court on the pleadings, transcript of the proceedings before the Hearing Examiner, and briefs of counsel.

The law applicable to plaintiff’s status is somewhat complicated by his employment for more than ten years in work covered by the Railroad Retirement Act, Section 228a et seq., Title 45 United States Code. Plaintiff’s earnings since 1946 have been railroad compensation and cannot be used for the purpose of establishing his right to disability insurance benefits under Section 223 (a) of the Social Security Act (Section 423(a), Title 42 United States Code). However, in order for him to receive disability benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act, plaintiff must show that his condition warrants the establishment of a period of disability under Section 216 (i) of the Social Security Act (Section 416(i), Title 42 United States Code). Section 3(e) of the Railroad Retirement Act, as amended, (Section 228c(e), Title 45 United States Code), authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to determine whether a railroad employee is entitled to a period of disability.

The Hearing Examiner’s decision noted that the issue in this case is whether the plaintiff was under a disability, as defined by the Social Security Act, beginning on or before October 10, 1961, for the establishment of a period of disability under the Act. The decision also noted that, excluding railroad compensation, plaintiff last met the special earnings requirements of Section 223(c) of the Act in the quarter ending March 31, 1951. Therefore, in order for plaintiff to be entitled to disability benefits through Social Security coverage, he would have to establish that he was under a disability on or before March 31, 1951, which continued without interruption until July 10, 1961, the date on which he filed his application. Plaintiff continued to work as a railroad section laborer until March 29, 1961, and did not attempt to establish that his disability commenced in 1951 so that he might be entitled to disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act. The Hearing Examiner held that plaintiff was not under a disability as of October 10,1961, which would establish a period of disability and entitle him to disability benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act, Section 228b (a) (5), Title 45 United States Code.

The question for determination by this Court is whether the findings of the Hearing Examiner that plaintiff is not entitled to a period of disability are supported by substantial evidence.

On the basis of plaintiff’s testimony at the hearing and the medical reports and records submitted, the Hearing Examiner found that plaintiff had bronchitis and some emphysema. He determined that the medical evidence was sufficient to show that plaintiff is unable to engage [141]*141in his usual and customary work as a railroad section hand or any other type of heavy work requiring exposure to the weather. However, the evidence was found to be insufficient to establish that plaintiff’s physical impairments prevent him from engaging in some form of substantial gainful activity. It was determined that plaintiff could engage in sedentary indoor work such as that done by an elevator operator, janitor, inspector of machinery parts, or worker in a bottling plant. The record contains no evidence that employment in any of these fields of endeavor is available to the plaintiff.

Medical reports and statements from numerous physicians who have treated him over a period of years beginning in 1946 appear to support plaintiff’s uncon-troverted testimony that he cannot hold a steady job of any type.

In a report dated July 29, 1961, Dr. Ralph L. Cash revealed a history of illness dating from 1946 with plaintiff becoming unable to work April 1, 1961. He diagnosed plaintiff’s illness as chronic peptic ulcer, chronic bronchitis, and chronic prostatitis and pyelitis. Dr. Cash expressed the opinion that plaintiff “is unable to work under exposure or strain and even then has frequent illnesses”. In an earlier statement dated May 29, 1961, Dr. Cash recommended plaintiff for permanent and total disability.

The record contains several reports from Dr. N. H. Talley, who first treated the plaintiff in November, 1959 and has continued to see him as a patient once or twice a month over a period of almost four years. He noted that plaintiff has had several hospitalizations for respiratory infections and has missed more than 400 days from work during the last three years due to recurrent respiratory illnesses ; plaintiff also has been hospitalized for treatment of other ailments. He reported that plaintiff’s condition has grown progressively worse and expressed doubt that there would be any improvement in the future. In a report dated July 29, 1961, Dr. Talley’s diagnosis was moderate emphysema, generalized bron-chiectasis, and duodenal ulcer. In his opinion plaintiff is unable to work and he stated that the railroad company had been advised that plaintiff is totally and permanently disabled. A statement from Dr. Talley, dated May 6, 1962, recites:

“I certainly feel, as I have stated previously on several occasions that he should be considered totally and permanently disabled on the basis of his chronic lung disease alone, notwithstanding his other problems of duodenal ulcers, hiatal hernia, recurrent bouts of prostatitis and pyelo-nephritis and arthritis which only further limit his activities.”

Four elements of proof must be considered by the Hearing Examiner in making a determination of plaintiff’s ability or inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity: (1) the objective medical facts, which are the clinical findings divorced from the expert judgments of the examining physicians; (2) the diagnoses and expert medical opinions regarding the limitation of capacity as the result of plaintiff’s impairments; (3) the subjective evidence of pain and disability testified to by the plaintiff, and (4) plaintiff’s educational background, work history, and present age. Although he should consider the objective medical facts, the Hearing Examiner is not at liberty to make a medical judgment regarding plaintiff’s limitation of capacity where such an inference is not clearly justified by the clinical findings. A definite limitation is placed on the inferences the Hearing Examiner may draw from purely clinical findings in Underwood v. Ribieoff, 4 Cir., 298 F.2d 850, 851 (1962):

“The objective medical findings may show more or less clearly the existence of certain clinically determinable physical or mental impairments. However, a recitation of objective, clinical findings will seldom show, without more, the over-all effect of these impairments on a particular individual. This is a matter of medical judgment to be decided with reference to the individual’s [142]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
227 F. Supp. 138, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stallins-v-celebrezze-kywd-1964.