Filed: Jan. 28, 2020
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 19-12187 Date Filed: 01/28/2020 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 19-12187 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 3:18-cv-01130-JBT MARY EILENE LYNN, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (January 28, 2020) Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JORDAN and NEWSOM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 19-12187 Date Fil
Summary: Case: 19-12187 Date Filed: 01/28/2020 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 19-12187 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 3:18-cv-01130-JBT MARY EILENE LYNN, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (January 28, 2020) Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JORDAN and NEWSOM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 19-12187 Date File..
More
Case: 19-12187 Date Filed: 01/28/2020 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 19-12187
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 3:18-cv-01130-JBT
MARY EILENE LYNN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
________________________
(January 28, 2020)
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JORDAN and NEWSOM, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Case: 19-12187 Date Filed: 01/28/2020 Page: 2 of 4
Mary Eilene Lynn appeals the judgment affirming the Commissioner’s
denial of her application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security
income, 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g), 1383(c)(3). Lynn argues that the administrative law
judge erred in finding that there was no objective support for her one-time medical
examiner’s determination that she was capable of sitting only two hours and
standing and walking less than one hour and that the administrative law judge erred
in finding that she was not credible regarding the intensity, persistence, and
limiting effects of her symptoms. We affirm.
We review the Commissioner’s decision for substantial evidence. Moore v.
Barnhart,
405 F.3d 1208, 1211 (11th Cir. 2005). Substantial evidence is any
relevant evidence, greater than a scintilla, that a reasonable person would accept as
adequate to support a conclusion. Lewis v. Callahan,
125 F.3d 1436, 1440 (11th
Cir. 1997). If substantial evidence supports the Commissioner’s decision, we will
not disturb it.
Id. at 1439. Under this standard of review, we will not decide the
facts anew, make credibility determinations, or re-weigh the evidence. Winschel v.
Comm’r of Soc. Sec.,
631 F.3d 1176, 1178 (11th Cir. 2011).
Substantial evidence supports the Commissioner’s denial of Lynn’s
application. The administrative law judge was entitled to find that portions of Dr.
William Choisser’s opinion were disproportionate to the objective medical findings
by Lynn’s treating physicians. Lynn received only conservative and routine
2
Case: 19-12187 Date Filed: 01/28/2020 Page: 3 of 4
treatment from general practitioners, received minimal findings upon testing, was
never referred to a specialist, and had two gaps in treatment of eight months and
seven months, all of which tended to prove that the intensity, persistence, and
limiting effects of Lynn’s symptoms were not as severe as in the conclusory
opinion of Dr. Choisser, a one-time medical examiner. Lynn’s medical record
evidenced infrequent care by general practitioners with conservative treatment
recommendations of continued medication and weight loss. And the administrative
law judge was entitled to consider Lynn’s acknowledged abilities of operating a
motor vehicle, preparing meals, performing household chores, doing laundry, and
grooming herself. For the same reasons, substantial evidence supports the finding
that Lynn’s subjective complaints were inconsistent with the objective medical
evidence and other aspects of her testimony.
AFFIRMED.
3
Case: 19-12187 Date Filed: 01/28/2020 Page: 4 of 4
JORDAN, Circuit Judge, concurring in the judgment.
In my view, “the evidence preponderates against” the ALJ’s decision, but our
review is limited and we must nevertheless affirm because the decision is “supported
by substantial evidence.” MacGregor v. Bowen,
786 F.2d 1050, 1053 (11th Cir.
1986).
4