ROSEANN A. KETCHMARK, District Judge.
Before the Court is Plaintiff's appeal brought under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) seeking review of Defendant Social Security Administration's ("SSA") denial of disability benefits as rendered in a decision by an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"). For the reasons below, the decision of the ALJ is
The Court's review of the ALJ's decision to deny disability benefits is limited to determining if the decision "complies with the relevant legal requirements and is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole." Halverson v. Astrue, 600 F.3d 922, 929 (8th Cir. 2010) (quoting Ford v. Astrue, 518 F.3d 979, 981 (8th Cir. 2008)). "Substantial evidence is less than a preponderance of the evidence, but is `such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind would find adequate to support the [ALJ's] conclusion.'" Grable v. Colvin, 770 F.3d 1196, 1201 (8th Cir. 2014) (quoting Davis v. Apfel, 239 F.3d 962, 966 (8th Cir. 2001)). In determining whether existing evidence is substantial, the Court takes into account "evidence that detracts from the [ALJ's] decision as well as evidence that supports it." Cline v. Colvin, 771 F.3d 1098, 1102 (8th Cir. 2014) (citation omitted). "If the ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence, [the Court] may not reverse even if substantial evidence would support the opposite outcome or [the Court] would have decided differently." Smith v. Colvin, 756 F.3d 621, 625 (8th Cir. 2014) (citing Davis v. Apfel, 239 F.3d 962, 966 (8th Cir. 2001)). The Court does not "re-weigh the evidence presented to the ALJ." Guilliams v. Barnhart, 393 F.3d 798, 801 (8th Cir. 2005) (citing Baldwin v. Barnhart, 349 F.3d 549, 555 (8th Cir. 2003)). The Court must "defer heavily to the findings and conclusions of the [ALJ]." Hurd v. Astrue, 621 F.3d 734, 738 (8th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted).
By way of overview, the ALJ determined that Plaintiff suffers from the following severe impairments: obesity; anxiety; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and depression. The ALJ also determined that Plaintiff has the following non-severe impairments: thyroiditis; sleep apnea; and elevated liver enzymes. However, the ALJ found that none of Plaintiff's impairments, whether considered alone or in combination, meet or medically equal the criteria of one of the listed impairments in 20 CFR Pt. 404. Subpt. P, App. 1 ("Listing"). Additionally, the ALJ found that despite her limitations, Plaintiff retained the residual functional capacity ("RFC") to perform medium work with the following limitations: Plaintiff cannot tolerate any interaction with the public and can have only occasional interaction with coworkers. Although the ALJ found that Plaintiff was unable to perform any past relevant work, the ALJ found that Plaintiff was not disabled, and that considering Plaintiff's age, education, work experience, and RFC, there are jobs that exist in significant numbers in the national economy that Plaintiff can perform.
Plaintiff brings the following arguments on appeal: (1) whether the ALJ failed to properly weigh treating physician Dr. Powers' opinion and licensed professional counselor Angela Price's opinion, and (2) whether the ALJ erred at Step Two in evaluating Plaintiff's impairments concerning fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, and thyroiditis.
First, Plaintiff argues the ALJ erred in awarding little weight to treating physician Dr. Powers' opinion. Plaintiff first argues the ALJ erred because he did not consider the first three factors in 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(c) when determining what weight to award Dr. Powers. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(c) ("When we do not give the treating source's opinion controlling weight, we apply the [following] factors . . . (1) Examining relationship . . . (2) Treatment relationship . . . (3) Supportability . . . (4) Consistency . . . (5) Specialization . . . (6) Other factors . . . any factors you or others bring to our attention . . . which tend to support or contradict the medical opinion."). Despite Plaintiff's argument, the ALJ considered these factors and discussed them in his opinion.
Second, Plaintiff argues the ALJ improperly discounted Dr. Powers' opinion. Substantial evidence supports the ALJ's decision to discount Dr. Powers' opinion because it was inconsistent with the overall record. See Pearsall v. Massanari, 274 F.3d 1211, 1219 (8th Cir. 2001) (an ALJ may discount or reject a medical opinion when that opinion is inconsistent with the record as a whole); Reece v. Colvin, 834 F.3d 904, 909-10 (8th Cir. 2016) (the ALJ was proper in discounting the treating physician's opinion when the opinion was "highly inconsistent with the objective treatment records and the objective medical evidence as a whole").
Plaintiff also argues the ALJ erred in giving little weight to licensed professional counselor Ms. Price's opinion. First, Plaintiff argues that the ALJ improperly discounted Ms. Price's opinion simply because she was not an acceptable medical source.
Next, Plaintiff argues the ALJ erred at Step Two in finding that fibromyalgia was not an impairment and finding that Plaintiff's sleep apnea and thyroiditis were non-severe impairments. First, as to Plaintiff's claim concerning fibromyalgia, the Social Security Regulations state a person has fibromyalgia if the following two requirements are met: (1) a doctor has diagnosed fibromyalgia and (2) the doctor that diagnosed fibromyalgia provides evidence required in SSR 12-2p II.A or II.B.
Last, Plaintiff argues the ALJ erred in classifying Plaintiff's sleep apnea and thyroiditis as non-severe impairments. An impairment is non-severe when medical evidence establishes only a slight abnormality, or a combination of slight abnormalities that would have no more than a minimal effect on an individual's ability to perform basic work activities. 20 C.F.F. § 416.920(c). "If the ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence, [the Court] may not reverse even if substantial evidence would support the opposite outcome or [the Court] would have decided differently." Smith, 756 F.3d at 625 (citing Davis, 239 F.3d at 966). Here, substantial evidence exists in the record to support the ALJ's finding that Plaintiff's sleep apnea and thyroiditis were non-severe impairments because the non-severe impairments were either controlled with medication or required little ongoing management and did not cause more than a minimal limitation in Plaintiff's ability to function.
Plaintiff also argues that even if Plaintiff's sleep apnea and thyroiditis were non-severe, the ALJ failed to provide any explanation as to how these non-severe impairments impacted the RFC determination. Plaintiff relies on Wells v. Colvin in support. 727 F.3d 1061 (10th Cir. 2013). The Wells Court held that the ALJ erred because he stated that he did not consider the plaintiff's nonsevere impairments when formulating the RFC determination. Id. at 1069-70. However, Wells is distinguishable. Here, the ALJ's opinion does not provide any indication that the non-severe impairments of sleep apnea and thyroiditis were not considered in the RFC determination. See Shuttles v. Colvin, 543 Fed. Appx. 824, (10th Cir. 2013) ("[s]ignificantly, the ALJ did not make any ancillary statement, like that made by the ALJ in Wells, affirmatively suggesting an improper conflation of the step-two and step-four assessments") (internal quotation marks and internal citation omitted). Second, despite Plaintiff's argument, the ALJ does provide a narrative discussion as to how sleep apnea and thyroiditis impacted Plaintiff and how they were incorporated into the RFC determination.
Having carefully reviewed the record before the Court and the parties' submissions, the Court concludes that substantial evidence supports the ALJ's decision.
As to the second factor, Plaintiff considered the treatment relationship between Dr. Powers and Plaintiff. The ALJ did not give Dr. Powers' opinion controlling weight despite her position as treating physician. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(c)(2) and 404.1527(c)(2)(i), (c)(2)(ii) ("When we do not give the treating source's medical opinion controlling weight," the following two factors are applied: "Length of the treatment relationship and frequency of examination" and "Nature and extent of the treatment relationship.") Here, the ALJ considered these two factors in determining the treatment relationship between Plaintiff and Dr. Powers.
Last, as to the third factor, the ALJ considered the medical evidence and testing that Dr. Powers relied on in forming her opinion. The ALJ's opinion discusses Dr. Powers' examination findings and clinical results after each examination of Plaintiff.
SSR 12-2p II.B requires the following: (1) the plaintiff has a history of widespread pain; (2) the plaintiff has repeated manifestations of six or more fibromyalgia symptoms; and (3) evidence that other disorders that could cause the symptoms or signs were excluded.