Cruz v. Sullivan, 1351

Decision Date08 August 1990
Docket NumberD,No. 1351,1351
Citation912 F.2d 8
Parties, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 15638A Eugenio CRUZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee. ocket 90-6020.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Carolyn A. Kubitschek, Brooklyn, N.Y., for plaintiff-appellant.

Kathleen A. Zebrowski, Asst. U.S. Atty. (Otto G. Obermaier, U.S. Atty. S.D.N.Y., Edward T. Ferguson, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., Susan D. Baird, Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty., New York City, of counsel), for defendant-appellee.

Before OAKES, Chief Judge, PIERCE and PRATT, Circuit Judges.

PIERCE, Senior Circuit Judge:

Eugenio Cruz appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, David N. Edelstein, Judge, filed October 13, 1989, affirming the decision of Louis W. Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services, that Cruz was not eligible for Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") disability benefits. The district court found that substantial evidence in the record supported the Secretary's denial of benefits. On appeal, Cruz asserts, inter alia, that he did not receive a full and fair hearing before the administrative law judge and that the Secretary misapplied the treating physician rule. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the judgment of the district court with instructions to remand the matter to the Secretary for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

I.

Eugenio Cruz was born on September 11, 1947, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he completed the seventh grade. He is married and the father of two children. He is literate in Spanish; he can barely speak and read English. Cruz emigrated to the United States in 1968, and was employed as a clothes sorter in a warehouse for thirteen years until November 1982 when the company moved. Cruz lost his job, and thereafter became ill with asthma and also experienced lower back pain.

Between 1980 and 1987, Cruz was examined by at least two treating and three consulting physicians for his asthma and back problems; their medical reports provided inconsistent conclusions about the severity of Cruz's asthma condition. Dr. Fidel Larraondo was Cruz's first treating physician from 1980 to 1984. During this period, Dr. Larraondo treated Cruz for asthmatic bronchitis and restricted him from working with detergents and chemicals or in dusty places. On November 17, 1984, Dr. Larraondo evaluated Cruz's ability to work, and determined that despite chronic asthmatic bronchitis, he could work full-time except around dust, odors or skin irritants and in places subject to humidity or sudden temperature changes.

A consulting physician retained by the New York State Human Resources Administration, one Dr. Hong, examined Cruz on August 14, 1986, and concluded that he was unable to work for three months because of his bronchial asthma, hypertension, lower back pain and other ailments. On December 15, 1986, Cruz filed an application pro se for SSI disability benefits, asserting that he had become disabled in 1982 because of asthma.

At the request of the Social Security Administration, Cruz underwent a physical examination on February 13, 1987. A consulting physician, Dr. Antonio De Leon, performed, inter alia, a pulmonary function test and concluded that the results were "compatible with mild restrictive and moderately severe obstructive lung disease, with good improvement after bronchodilators." His diagnosis was bronchial asthma and back pains. His report stated that Cruz wheezed noticeably, suffered asthmatic attacks about three times a year and denied being hospitalized or visiting the emergency room.

On April 29, 1987, Dr. Mahmood Gheissary, a physician who apparently began treating Cruz in 1986, wrote the following note, which stated in its entirety: "To whom it may concern[:] This is to certify that Mr. Eugenio Cruz is suffering from chronic [a]sthma attack and currently is under my medical treatment, because of his underlying illness, he is unable to work." He did not, however, submit any clinical findings or laboratory test results.

Five months later, on September 29, 1987, Dr. Howard Finger examined Cruz on a consultative basis. This examination revealed that Cruz was not wheezing; respiratory excursions were fair; breath sounds were mildly diminished over both lung fields; and his lungs were clear to percussion. The findings of the pulmonary function test suggested "the presence of a possible mild restrictive component. No evidence of obstructive airway disease." Dr. Finger's impressions were a history of bronchial asthma, with only mild symptoms at present, and probable chronic low back syndrome.

After his application for benefits was denied initially and on reconsideration, Cruz requested a hearing by an administrative law judge ("ALJ"). The ALJ held a hearing on February 18, 1988. At the hearing, Cruz, still appearing pro se and testifying through an interpreter, answered questions about his personal and educational background and work experience. The ALJ inquired into his medical problems and treatment, physical abilities and daily activities.

Cruz testified that he had suffered asthma attacks for the past four years, that he took various prescribed medications and that he used an inhaler to control his asthma. The ALJ told Cruz he could hear him wheezing very badly, and Cruz responded that he wheezed all the time. The ALJ asked Cruz if he ever went to the emergency room, and Cruz answered that he had. Cruz stated that when he had asthma attacks, he went to see his current doctor, Dr. Gheissary, once or twice a week for injections. Cruz testified that he could walk only about a block and a half before his breathing problems were aggravated, and that he was not sleeping well. Moreover, he could not use public transportation, do any housework or leave the house during inclement weather. Cruz stated that he occasionally watched television or visited with friends.

Four days after the hearing, on February 22, 1988, the ALJ sent a letter to Dr. Gheissary requesting copies of his office treatment notes and a statement of his findings and opinions explaining why Cruz was unable to work. In this letter the ALJ stated that he expected a response by March 4, 1988. When the ALJ received no reply from Dr. Gheissary, he apparently assumed that the doctor had received the letter but had "failed to respond."

In his decision, dated June 14, 1988, the ALJ found that the medical evidence did establish that Cruz had asthma and low back syndrome. He also found that Cruz could not lift more than 50 pounds or be exposed to detergents, chemicals and excessive dust, and therefore, could not perform his former work as a clothing sorter. The ALJ determined, however, that Cruz's impairment was not presumptively disabling, and thus, he assessed Cruz's ability to perform other work by examining certain vocational factors set out in the Social Security Act ("the Act"). The ALJ then applied his findings to a chart of the Medical-Vocational Guidelines, 20 C.F.R. Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App. 2, Sec. 203.00 (1989), and concluded that Cruz was not disabled within the meaning of the Act. Specifically, the ALJ decided that Cruz could perform "medium work," which "involve[d] lifting no more than 50 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 25 pounds," id. Sec. 416.967(c), as long as he was not exposed to detergents, chemicals or dust. The ALJ also concluded that Cruz's testimony was "exaggerated and not fully credible as inconsistent with the medical evidence." Cruz appealed to the Social Security Appeals Council, which denied his request for review. The ALJ's decision then became the final decision of the Secretary.

Cruz sought review of the Secretary's determination by commencing an action in the district court on December 27, 1988. Judge Edelstein referred the case to Magistrate Buchwald. The Secretary moved for judgment on the pleadings, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). Cruz did not submit any papers in opposition to the motion, but Dr. Gheissary submitted a letter, dated May 19, 1989, apparently addressed to the district court, which stated that Cruz had chronic bronchial asthma, suffered acute attacks every two weeks, was presently unable to work and should be under close medical attention.

On June 30, 1989, Magistrate Buchwald issued a report, recommending that the Secretary's decision be affirmed. She determined that Dr. Gheissary's diagnosis--that Cruz was unable to work because he was suffering from chronic asthma attacks--was not supported by clinical findings or laboratory tests and was contradicted by the reports of two consulting physicians, Drs. De Leon and Finger. She also found dispositive various reports indicating that Cruz's back pain was not severe enough to render him unemployable for more than three weeks. Therefore, the Magistrate decided that substantial evidence in the record existed to support the ALJ's findings that Cruz could perform medium work with environmental restrictions, and that Cruz had received a full and fair hearing. Judge Edelstein issued an order adopting the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation and granted the Secretary's motion for judgment on the pleadings. This appeal followed.

II.

An appellate court's review of the Secretary's final decision denying a SSI disability benefits claim is not de novo, Wagner v. Secretary of Health & Human Serv., 906 F.2d 856, 859-60 (2d Cir.1990); it is limited to inquiring into whether the Secretary's conclusions are supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole or are based on an erroneous legal standard. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(g) (1982); Aubeuf v. Schweiker, 649 F.2d 107, 112 (2d Cir.1981). Substantial evidence is defined as " 'more than a mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support...

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