Vega v. Colvin

128 F. Supp. 3d 1121, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120499, 2015 WL 5306207
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedSeptember 10, 2015
DocketNo. C14-4060-LTS
StatusPublished

This text of 128 F. Supp. 3d 1121 (Vega v. Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vega v. Colvin, 128 F. Supp. 3d 1121, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120499, 2015 WL 5306207 (N.D. Iowa 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

LEONARD T. STRAND, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Plaintiff Marisol Vega (Vega), on behalf of her child, K.I.V., seeks judicial review of a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner) denying her application for child Supplemental Security Income benefits (SSI) under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 401 et seq. (Act). Vega Contends that the administrative record (AR) does not contain substantial evidence to support the commissioner’s decision that K.I.V. was not disabled during the relevant time period. For the reasons that follow, the commissioner’s decision will be reversed and remanded.

J. BACKGROUND

K.I.V. was born in 2003 and was in the fourth grade at the time of hearing. AR 38, 134. Vega alleges that K.I.V. is disabled due to partial complex seizures with secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorder. AR 291, 680. Vega protectively filed an application for SSI On KI.V.’s behalf on August 31, 2011., AR 64-65, 72-73, 134-40. She alleged that K.I.V. has been disabled since January 1, 2009. AR 134.

The application was denied initially and on reconsideration. AR 82-84, 89-92. Vega then sought a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). On March 4, 2013, ALJ Jan Dutton conducted a hearing, at which Vega and K.I.V. Testified. AR 33-63. On April 4, 2013, the ALJ Issued a decision denying the claim. AR 10-27. The Appeals Council denied Vega’s request for review on. June 24, 2014. AR 1-3. The ALJ’S decision thus became the final decision of the Commissioner. AR 1; 20 C.F.R. § 416.1481.

Vega'filed a complaint (doc. No. 3) in this court on September 12, 2014, seeking review of the ALJ’S Decision. On October 20, 2014, with the consent of the parties (Doc. No. 6), the Honorable Mark W. Bennett transferred this , case to me for final disposition and entry of judgment. The parties have now briefed the issues and the matter is fully submitted.

II. DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS AND THE BURDEN OF PROOF

The Commissioner’s regulations establish a three-step sequential evaluation process for determining whether a child is disabled as defined in the Act: (1) deter[1124]*1124mination of whether the child is engaged in “substantial gainful activity,” (2) determination of whether the child’s impairment or combination of impairments is severe, and (3) determination of whether the child’s impairment or combination of impairments “meets, medically equals, or functionally equals” a listed impairment. See 20 C.F.R. § 416.924(a).

At Step One, if the child is engaged in substantial gainful activity, the child is not disabled. 77. § 416.924(b). At Step Two, if the child’s impairment or combination of impairments amounts only to “a slight abnormality or a combination of slight abnormalities that causes no more than minimal functional limitations,” the child is not disabled. 7d§ 416.924(c). At Step Three, if the child’s impairment or combination of impairments does not “meet, medically equal, or functionally equal” a listed impairment, the child is not disabled. 7d§ 416.924(d). A listed impairment is an impairment considered to be severe enough to- prevent a child from doing any gainful activity and is characterized by “impairments that cause marked and severe functional limitations.” 7d§ 416.925(a). the listings are located at 20 C.F.R. Part. 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1.

When determining at step three whether the child’s impairment or combination of impairments is functionally equivalent to a listed impairment, an ALJ must consider six domains of functionality: (1) acquiring and using information, (2) attending and completing tasks, (3) interacting and relating with others, (4) moving about and manipulating objects, (5) ability to care for oneself and (6) health and physical wellbe-ing. 20 C.F.R. § 416.926a(b)(l). to be found disabled at Step Three, the child’s impairment or combination of impairments “must result in ‘marked’ limitations in two domains of [functionality] or an ‘extreme’ limitation in one domain.” 20 C.F.R. § 416.926a(a).

III. THE ALJ’S FINDINGS

The ALJ made the following findings:

(1) The claimant was born on January 31, 2003. Therefore, she was a preschooler on August 31, 2011, the date application was filed, and is currently a school-age child (20 CFR 416.926a(g)(2)).

(2) The claimant has not engaged in substantial gainful activity since August 31, 2011, the application date (20 CFR 416.924(b) and 416.971 et seq.).

(3) The claimant has the following severe impairments: complex partial seizure disorder (controlled with medication), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety. (20 CFR 416.924(c)). ■

(4) The claimant does not have an impairment or combination of impairments that meets or medically equals the severity of one of the listed impairments in 20 CFR Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1 (20 CFR 416.924, 416.925 and 416.926).

(5) The claimant does not have an im- ■ pairment or combination of impairments that functionally equals the severity of the listings (20 CFR 416.924(d) and 416.926(a).

(6) The claimant has not been disabled, as defined in the Social Security Act, since August 31, 2011, the date the application was filed (20 CFR 416.924(a)).

AR 13-27.

IV. THE SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE STANDARD

The Commissioner’s decision must be affirmed “if it is supported by substan[1125]*1125tial evidence on the record as a whole.” Pelkey v. Barnhart, 433 F.3d 575, 577 (8th Cir.2006) (citing Guilliams v. Barnhart, 393 F.3d 798, 801 (8th Cir.2005)); see 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (“The findings of the Commissioner of Social Security as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive.... ”). “Substantial evidence is less than a preponderance, but enough that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Lewis v. Barnhart, 353 F.3d 642, 645 (8th Cir.2003).

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Bluebook (online)
128 F. Supp. 3d 1121, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120499, 2015 WL 5306207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vega-v-colvin-iand-2015.