Atkins v. Shalala
| Decision Date | 17 November 1993 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 92-1650-FR. |
| Citation | 837 F. Supp. 318 |
| Parties | Harold ATKINS, Plaintiff, v. Donna E. SHALALA, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Oregon |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Ralph Wilborn, Ralph Wilborn & Etta L. Wilborn, P.C., Eugene, OR, for plaintiff.
Jack C. Wong, U.S. Atty., Craig J. Casey, Asst. U.S. Atty., Portland, OR, Richard H. Wetmore, Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty., Seattle, WA, for defendant.
The matter before the court is the petition of the plaintiff, Harold Atkins, to obtain judicial review of the final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) denying his claim for Social Security disability benefits.
On August 13, 1990, Harold Atkins applied for disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. This application was denied initially and upon reconsideration. Thereafter, Atkins requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. On January 21, 1992, Administrative Law Judge, John J. Madden, Jr. (hereafter, the ALJ), held a hearing which included taking the testimony of Atkins, his wife, a medical advisor, and a vocational advisor. On April 6, 1992, the ALJ issued a decision finding Atkins not disabled within the meaning of the Act, and therefore not entitled to disability benefits. This became the final decision of the Secretary when the Appeals Council declined to review the decision of the ALJ.
At the time of the hearing, Atkins was forty-nine years old. He is a high school graduate. His previous employment includes service manager in mobile home sales, street maintenance, mine foreman, detail man, weed control, and bulldozer operator. He alleges that he became disabled on October 31, 1988 as a result of physical and mental impairments.
The medical records relating to Atkins' alleged disabling conditions date back to 1982. It was then that Atkins began to experience medical difficulties that he claims were the result of working in a gold mine. He was diagnosed as having somatic complaints and abusing cigarettes. He was also told that he had deficient vision in his right eye due to atrophy of the optic nerve and central scotoma. The vision in his right eye is so limited that he can only count fingers at a distance of three feet.
Atkins was seen by several other medical providers from 1982 through 1991. A review of the voluminous medical and psychological evidence in the record indicates that Atkins has had various diagnoses as follows:
At the hearing held on January 21, 1992, Atkins testified that he had terminated his job in 1985 because of headaches, and had terminated his job at Safari Motor Coach in 1988 because of difficulty in understanding job requirements and working at the pace required. He testified that he suffers daily from migraine headaches and back pain, but that chiropractic manipulation of his neck helps control the migraine headaches. Atkins also testified that he has no energy and is forgetful. His arms and legs go numb if he sits. He must walk slowly and for short distances and cannot carry anything. He has no social activities other than an occasional family visit. Atkins' wife confirmed that Atkins is forgetful and stated that he spends most of the day in bed.
Dr. Janice Green, a psychologist, testified at the hearing as a medical advisor. Dr. Green stated that the Utah Evaluation (See 1989 Diagnoses, supra) and the examination by Dr. Robert T. Kurlychek (See 1991 Diagnoses, supra) supported a finding of a mild cognitive deficit. Dr. Kurlychek stated that Atkins has low average intelligence, except in the verbal area, a situation not usually found in conditions involving organic brain damage. Based on certain answers Atkins gave on a test designed to rate mental impairment (the MMPI), Dr. Green felt that the responses Atkins gave were exaggerated. Dr. Green stated that while there were a great number of somatic problems demonstrated in the record, she nonetheless determined that Atkins could perform simple repetitive tasks.
Dr. Terry V. Lesh, a vocational expert, rated the jobs Atkins had performed as to skill level and exertional requirements. He classified the job of industrial cleaner as light and unskilled. The ALJ then asked Dr. Lesh to assume a person of Atkins' age, education, and vocational background who was limited to medium exertion and could perform only simple repetitive tasks. Dr. Lesh testified that this hypothetical person could perform work as an industrial cleaner or janitor. Dr. Lesh also identified several jobs requiring light exertion which could be performed by the hypothetical person. Dr. Lesh testified that if the additional limitations of standing ten to fifteen minutes and walking ten to fifteen minutes and napping two or three times a day were added, there would be no jobs that Atkins could perform. Dr. Lesh testified that if the limitations stated by Dr. Kurlychek were assumed instead of the hypothetical posed by the ALJ, a person would not be able to function outside of a sheltered workshop.
Based on the evidence before him, the ALJ found that Atkins was limited to work requiring only light exertion and could perform work that involved only simple repetitive tasks. The ALJ concluded that under step four of the sequential analysis, Atkins could return to his former occupation as an industrial cleaner. In the alternative, the ALJ concluded that under step five of the sequential analysis, Atkins could perform the requirements of at least three other jobs which exist in significant numbers in the national economy: agricultural sorter, glazing machine operator, and hospital cleaner.
Atkins submitted additional evidence in conjunction with his request for review of the decision of the ALJ by the Appeals Council. In a report dated April 10, 1992, Dr. Kurlychek stated that Atkins had been undergoing therapy and continued to have problems with interpersonal relationships. In September, 1992, Dr. Kurlychek was provided with all of the exhibits from the hearing and the decision of the ALJ. He reviewed the material and determined that his opinion as to Atkins' limited mental functioning was not changed. Dr. Kurlychek took issue with the findings of the ALJ and the testimony of Dr. Green.
The Appeals Council reviewed the additional evidence and the letter of Dr. Kurlychek and found no reason to set aside the decision of the ALJ.
The court will uphold the decision of the ALJ provided that the findings of the ALJ are supported by substantial evidence and the ALJ applied the correct legal standards. Drouin v. Sullivan, 966 F.2d 1255, 1257 (9th Cir.1992). Substantial evidence "means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Id. (quoting Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971)).
An ALJ must make comprehensive and analytical findings, including Baerga v. Richardson, 500 F.2d 309, 312 (3d Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 931, 95 S.Ct. 1133, 43 L.Ed.2d 403 (1975).
The Social Security Act requires that certain individuals who are "under a disability" shall receive disability benefits. 42 U.S.C. § 423(a)(1)(D). Since 1978, the Secretary has implemented the statutory definition of disability by applying a five-step sequential inquiry into whether or not an applicant for benefits should be considered "disabled" and thus eligible for benefits. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520. Known as "sequential analysis," this system is comprised of elements of both the medical and vocational requirements of the definition of disability. It consists of a series of five questions asked in a specific order. These questions involve 1) whether the claimant is currently working; 2) whether the impairment is severe; 3) whether the impairment meets or equals a listed impairment; 4) whether the impairment prevents the...
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