Clark v. Chater

• Decision Date: 01 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-2835,95-2835
• Citation: 75 F.3d 414
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 15072B Judy K. CLARK, Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Commissioner of Social Security, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 414

75 F.3d 414

50 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 29, Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 15072B

Judy K. CLARK, Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Commissioner of Social Security, Appellee.

No. 95-2835.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 11, 1996.

Decided Feb. 1, 1996.

Michael R. Gott, Jonesboro, Arkansas, for appellant.

Martin W. Long, Office of the General Counsel, Dallas, Texas (Tina M. Waddell and Joseph B. Liken, on the brief), for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, ROSS, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

DIANA E. MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Judy K. Clark appeals from a judgment in favor of Shirley S. Chater, Commissioner of Social Security, denying her claim for social security disability benefits. Clark filed for disability benefits on July 15, 1991, claiming that she had been unable to work after September 6, 1990 due to carpal tunnel syndrome, a cyst on her left hand, and repetitive stress syndrome. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) denied her claim, and the Appeals Council denied review. Both sides moved for summary judgment in the district court, ¹ and the motion of the Secretary was granted.

At the administrative hearing, Clark, three witnesses, and a vocational expert testified. Clark was 47 years old at the time and has a ninth grade education. Her previous jobs were as a factory packer, tester, sewing machine operator, and assembler. She testified that she prepares her own meals, washes dishes, shops for groceries, drives a few times each week, takes care of her 20-month old son, walks four miles a day, dusts and vacuums, makes the beds, attends church occasionally, watches television, and does not need help bathing or dressing. She complained of shoulder and neck pain, and a loss of strength in her hands, but could cut food and write letters. She admitted that she has no concentration or memory problems, and that she can sit, stand, and walk without difficulty. Two of Clark's friends and her sister provided corroborating testimony. Dr. Dan Thompson, a vocational expert, testified that someone of Clark's age, education, work experience, and physical limitations could perform the jobs of interviewer, receptionist, information clerk, and order clerk.

Clark injured her right wrist in August 1990. An EMG and nerve conduction study in October 1990 indicated carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel releases on both hands gradually improved Clark's condition; by mid-February 1991, Clark performed range of motion and strength activities with minimal difficulty and no reports of pain. In early May 1991, Clark complained of neck and shoulder pain after having planted tomatoes in her yard. In late May 1991, Dr. John Ball removed a ganglion cyst from Clark's left wrist. In September 1991, Dr. Ball stated that Clark was prone to fibromyositis in her shoulders due to over use and tissue irritation, that her hands and shoulders constituted a thirteen percent permanent physical impairment to the person, but that she was medically stable and could return to work as of October 7, 1991. In April 1992, Clark was placed in a short-leg walking cast after incurring a fracture.

Based on this testimony and medical evidence, the ALJ found that Clark had a medically determinable impairment of her wrist and shoulders, but that it failed to meet or equal the disability criteria required under the Social Security Act. The ALJ noted that Clark probably suffered from some pain, but that her complaints of disabling pain were not credible to the extent that they conflicted with the objective medical evidence and her daily living activities. He concluded that Clark could not perform her past work as a sewing machine operator, assembler, tester, or packer. Since Clark had the residual functional capacity for the full range of light work reduced by limited pushing and pulling, however, the ALJ concluded that she could work as an interviewer, receptionist, or clerk.

After the Appeals Council denied review, Clark filed this action. Finding substantial evidence to support the ALJ's finding, the district court affirmed the Secretary's decision to deny benefits and dismissed Clark's complaint.

Our review is limited to determining whether there is substantial evidence based on the entire record to support the ALJ's factual findings, and whether his decision was based on legal error. Keller v. Shalala, 26 F.3d 856, 858 (8th Cir.1994). "Substantial evidence means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Reed v. Sullivan, 988 F.2d 812, 814 (8th Cir.1993) (quotation omitted). The fact that two inconsistent conclusions may be drawn does not prevent an administrative agency's findings from being supported by substantial evidence. Baker v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 955 F.2d 552, 554 (8th Cir.1992).

Clark concedes that the ALJ could reasonably conclude from the medical evidence that her physical impairments do not significantly limit her ability to perform the physical and mental functions set forth in the regulations. She argues, however, that her pain is disabling and that the ALJ failed to determine explicitly why her complaints of pain were not credible. She also claims that the ALJ improperly used the Medical-Vocational Guidelines to determine that she was not disabled.

Disability is defined in the social security regulations as "the inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment ... which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." 20 C.F.R. § 416.905 (1995). An ALJ must weigh the credibility of the claimant's subjective complaints of pain in terms of the claimant's...