Nathaniel M. Gorton, United States District Judge.
Plaintiff Doris Coren ("Coren" or "plaintiff") seeks judicial review of the denial of her application for disability benefits by defendant, Carolyn W. Colvin ("the Commissioner"), in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("SSA"). Pending before the Court are 1) plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings to reverse the Commissioner's decision and 2) defendant's motion for an order affirming her decision. For the reasons that follow, plaintiff's motion to reverse the Commissioner will be denied and the Commissioner's motion to affirm will be allowed.
Doris Coren was born on July 7, 1965. She has a tenth or eleventh grade education, has three adult children and is unmarried. She has been unemployed for 15 years and her main source of income is government assistance. Coren filed an application for supplemental security income ("SSI") under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381
Coren's initial application for disability benefits was denied in July, 2012, and, upon reconsideration, was denied again in November, 2012. She filed a request for a hearing and review of the SSA's decision in December, 2012. That hearing was held in November, 2013, before Administrative Law Judge Henry Hogan ("the ALJ"). In January, 2014, the ALJ found Coren to be not disabled.
In denying Coren disability benefits, the ALJ applied the five-step test provided in 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a) and, with respect to the fifth step, found that Coren was not entitled to disability benefits.
The ALJ deemed that Coren was not engaged in substantial gainful activity but was severely impaired as a result of her peripheral neuropathy, lower back pain, alcohol abuse disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder and unspecified learning disorder. He then found, at step three of the analysis, that her impairments did not meet or equal the severity of those enumerated in Appendix 1 of 20 C.F.R. § 404 Subpart P ("§ 404 Impairments").
At step four, the ALJ concluded that Coren had a residual functional capacity ("RFC") of "light work" with additional restrictions of 1) occasionally climbing stairs or ramps, 2) occasionally stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling and 3) occasionally using her right arm for "fine manipulation" and 4) performing only one to two-step tasks. The ALJ also noted that she did not have any past work experience to which she could adjust.
Finally, to determine if there were jobs in the general economy that Coren could hold, the ALJ relied upon the testimony of vocational expert Dr. Robert Laskey ("Dr. Laskey"). Dr. Lasky identified three occupations suitable for her: a garment sorter (2,400 jobs in Massachusetts), a laundry worker (9,000 jobs in Massachusetts) and a shipping and receiving weigher (360 jobs in Massachusetts). Citing Dr. Lasky's testimony, the ALJ concluded that Coren was not disabled because there were several kinds of jobs in the economy that she could perform.
Coren timely appealed the ALJ's decision but it was upheld in February, 2015, by the Appeals Council. She then filed her complaint in this Court in September, 2015, alleging that the ALJ failed to consider pertinent evidence and did not perform the required analyses.
To obtain benefits under Section 1602 of the Social Security Act ("the Act"), 42 U.S.C. § 1381a, an individual must demonstrate that she is unable
42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d)(1)(A), 1382c(a)(3)(A). The impairment must be of such severity that the claimant is not only unable to continue her previous work but also unable to engage in other kinds of substantial work that exist in the national economy fitting her age, education and work experience.
The Act gives federal district courts the power to affirm, modify or reverse the ALJ's decision or to remand the case for a rehearing. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Review under § 405(g), however, is not
Coren claims that the ALJ erred in finding her not disabled because he 1) gave incorrect weight to the opinions of certain doctors, 2) followed the wrong procedure to determine if alcoholism was pertinent to plaintiff's disability and 3) failed to consider whether her learning disorder met or equaled a listed § 404 Impairment.
Plaintiff avers that the ALJ 1) erred in weighing the medical opinions in the record and 2) substituted his own judgment for purportedly "uncontroverted" medical opinion. That is so, she says, because the ALJ gave little weight to opinion evidence from Dr. Barbara Trockman, a state agency medical consultant, Dr. Lena Mathews, Coren's primary care provider for a short period of time and Dr. Jasper Lawson, a clinical psychologist and consultative examiner while, on the other hand, crediting the opinion of Dr. Carol McKenna, a state psychological consultant. The Commissioner denies that characterization and maintains that the ALJ appropriately weighed all the evidence in the record and supported his conclusions with substantial information from the record.
To determine whether an individual is disabled, the ALJ must weigh several, sometimes conflicting, medical opinions.
The ALJ found that reports of Drs. Trockman, Mathews and Lawson conflicted with the record as a whole, including reports detailing Coren's daily activities, her conservative medical treatment regimen, history of poor compliance with doctors' recommendations and an absence of extensive hospitalizations. Conversely, because Dr. McKenna's assessment was consistent with the record, the ALJ properly credited it.
Plaintiff's assertion that the ALJ substituted his own judgment for medical evidence is unpersuasive. The ALJ's conclusions must be accepted so long as there is "substantial evidence" in the record to support those conclusions.
Second, plaintiff contends that the ALJ failed to consider whether her alcohol abuse was "material" to her disability.
At step three of the analysis, the ALJ must determine whether a claimant has an impairment that is the same or equivalent to one or more of the § 404 Impairments. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iii). If the claimant has such an impairment, the claimant is deemed disabled.
Here, the ALJ concluded that Coren's impairments were not equivalent to any of the § 404 Impairments enumerated under listings 12.04 (affective disorders), 12.06 (anxiety-related disorders) or 12.09 (substance addiction disorders). The ALJ did not determine, however, whether Coren's alleged disabilities matched those in listing 12.05 (intellectual disabilities) even though she has low intellectual functioning. Plaintiff maintains that omission is a reversible error.
In order to be disabled under listing 12.05, the claimant must meet three criteria: 1) significant sub-average intellectual functioning, 2) significant deficits in current adaptive functioning and 3) manifestation of the disorder before age 22. § 404 Impairments 12.00H(1). Although, as defendant concedes, plaintiff meets the first and third elements of listing 12.05, Coren has not demonstrated significant deficiencies in adaptive functioning and therefore she is not disabled under listing 12.05.
To determine if a claimant has a deficiency in adaptive functioning, the same analysis is used for listing 12.05 as for listings 12.04 and 12.06.
Here, the ALJ assessed plaintiff's adaptive functioning for listings 12.04 and 12.06 based on substantial evidence in the record. Accordingly, there is no reason to believe that his decision would have been different if had also assessed her functioning using the criteria provided in 12.05.
Plaintiff also claims that the ALJ's decision was based upon insufficient evidence because he did not adequately develop the record to determine if she had significant deficits in adaptive functioning. Indeed, while the ALJ's investigatory role requires him to develop the record,
In accordance with the foregoing,