ANDREW J. WISTRICH, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff filed this action seeking reversal of the decision of defendant, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (the "Commissioner"), denying plaintiff's application for supplemental security income ("SSI") benefits. The parties have filed a Joint Stipulation ("JS") setting forth their contentions with respect to each disputed issue.
The parties are familiar with the procedural facts, which are summarized in the Joint Stipulation. [
The Commissioner's denial of benefits should be disturbed only if it is not supported by substantial evidence or is based on legal error.
Plaintiff contends that the ALJ erred in rejecting the opinion of his treating psychologist, Dr. Trisha Rich-Thurm. [
In March 2014, Dr. Rich-Thurm prepared a medical source statement of plaintiff's ability to perform work-related mental functional abilities. [AR 350-352]. Dr. Rich-Thurm wrote that she started seeing plaintiff in November 2013, and that plaintiff's "impairments, symptoms and limitations" had lasted December 31, 2011. [AR 350]. Dr. Rich-Thurm checked boxes indicating that plaintiff had impairments that would preclude him from performing the rated mental functional abilities from between five percent and 15 percent of an eight-hour workday (that is, from between 12 minutes and 72 minutes in a workday). [AR 350-351]. She also stated that plaintiff's impairments or treatment would cause him or her to be absent from work more than three days a week, and that his combined limitations would cause him to be "off task" 30% or more of the time during a normal work week. Dr. Rich-Thurm commented that plaintiff's "anxiety and panic impact his daily functioning and physical health. [Plaintiff] requires further treatment to resolve issues and reduce symptoms." [AR 352].
The ALJ summarized Dr. Rich-Thurm's March 2014 assessment and treatment records. [AR 21]. He noted that plaintiff saw Dr. Rich-Thurm six times between November 2013 and April 2014 but also missed six scheduled sessions during that period. [AR 21, 352-370]. Plaintiff complained primarily of panic, severe anxiety, fear of leaving his house, fear of social settings, and inability to work. [AR 21, 354, 367]. In her March 11, 2014 progress note, Dr. Rich-Thurm reported that plaintiff "attend[ed] the session briefly but then shared that due to extreme anxiety he would have to leave." [AR 21, 357]. Dr. Rich-Thurm's March 21, 2014 progress report states that plaintiff "is trying to manage his anxiety and hopes to be able to seek employment soon," and that his relationship with his girlfriend was "rocky." [AR 360]. Plaintiff "appeared anxious in session[,] sweating, wringing his hands, and fidgeting in his seat. [AR 21, 360].
The ALJ gave "some weight" to Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion. The ALJ explained that the record contained only "very mild clinical findings" consisting of Dr. Rich-Thurm's observations of sweating, hand-wringing, fidgeting during one sessions and his early departure from another session due to extreme anxiety. [AR 22]. The ALJ found Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion "somewhat consistent" with plaintiff's testimony but also found that plaintiff made inconsistent statements that undermined the credibility of his subjective symptoms of anxiety and social isolation. [AR 20, 22]. In particular, the ALJ noted although plaintiff testified that he was socially isolated, that social anxiety prevented him from working, and that he stopped working in 2006, he told the consultative examining internist that he had worked for about a year as a manager at his mother's smoke shop, leaving that job in December 2012, six years after the date he testified that he had last worked and a year after his alleged onset of disability in December 2011. [AR 20, 31-35, 323]. The ALJ also pointed to inconsistency between plaintiff's testimony that he was socially isolated and his statements that he lived with his mother and sister, spent time with his niece, had a girlfriend, and had a friend who drove him to the hearing.
A treating physician's opinion is not binding on the Commissioner with respect to the existence of an impairment or the ultimate issue of disability.
Plaintiff contends that Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion was uncontroverted, and that the ALJ failed to articulate clear and convincing reasons for rejecting it. [JS 2-4]. Defendant contends that Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion is not uncontroverted because the record contains conflicting mental health treatment records from Palmdale Regional Medical Center ("PRMC") from May 2012 through July 2012 showing normal neurological and psychiatric findings, and that the ALJ offered specific, legitimate reasons for rejecting Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion. [JS 6-8; AR 222, 237, 248, 250].
The ALJ did not mention or rely on the mental status findings in PRMC records, but it is unnecessary to consider whether those findings are sufficient to controvert Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion because the ALJ gave clear and convincing reasons for rejecting that opinion. Dr. Rich-Thurm did not provide any clinical or objective findings to support her conclusory March 2014 disability opinion. [
Accordingly, the ALJ did not err in weighing Dr. Rich-Thurm's opinion, and the ALJ's RFC finding limiting plaintiff to simple, repetitive tasks with no public contact and occasional interaction with supervisors and coworkers is supported by substantial evidence in the record.
For the reasons described above, the Commissioner's decision is