Fleshman v. Sullivan, 90-1830

• Decision Date: 24 May 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-1830,90-1830
• Citation: 933 F.2d 674
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 16040A Lois F. FLESHMAN, Deceased, by her husband, Richard W. Fleshman, Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 674

933 F.2d 674

33 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 421, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 16040A

Lois F. FLESHMAN, Deceased, by her husband, Richard W Fleshman, Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Appellee.

No. 90-1830.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 7, 1991.

Decided May 24, 1991.

John A. Bowman, Davenport, Iowa, for appellant.

Robert C. Dopf, Des Moines, Iowa, for appellee.

Before ARNOLD and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Richard W. Fleshman, husband of Lois Fleshman, deceased, appeals from the district court's decision affirming the Secretary of Health and Human Services' denial of benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. We reverse and remand to the district court with instructions to the Secretary to award disability benefits from August 1, 1983, to December 31, 1983, to Mrs. Fleshman's estate.

I.

Lois F. Fleshman filed an application for social security benefits on November 11, 1977. The Social Security Administration found her entitled to disability benefits, beginning on August 15, 1977. In October 1983, the Administration discontinued Mrs. Fleshman's benefits because it found that her disability had ceased in August 1983. In 1986, Mrs. Fleshman again applied for benefits. Her application was denied through the reconsideration level, and she received a hearing before an administrative law judge. On June 23, 1987, the ALJ issued a decision denying her application. The recording of the hearing was subsequently found to be inaudible, and the Appeals Council vacated the ALJ's decision and remanded the case for a new hearing, which was held before a different administrative law judge on March 16, 1988. On March 31, 1988, the ALJ issued a decision that again denied Mrs. Fleshman benefits on the ground that she was capable of returning to her past relevant work and was therefore not disabled. The Appeals Council denied Mrs. Fleshman's request for review on September 26, 1988. Mrs. Fleshman died on October 26, 1988. Her husband filed a complaint in district court on December 2, 1988. The district court affirmed the ALJ's conclusion that Mrs. Fleshman was not disabled between November 1 and December 31, 1983.

On July 25, 1990, a different administrative law judge entered a decision that found that Mrs. Fleshman's disability had not ceased on August 1, 1983, but, giving res judicata effect to the ALJ's March 31, 1988, decision, found that Mrs. Fleshman was entitled to benefits only for the period from August 1, 1983, through October 31, 1983. (There is a more elaborate explanation for the procedural labyrinth that Mrs. Fleshman's claim was swallowed up in, but no particular purpose would be served by detailing it here.)

Lois Fleshman was born May 11, 1937. She graduated from high school and had some training in office skills at a community college. She worked as a billing machine operator, salvage yard laborer, and waitress. From the time she was in her late twenties, Mrs. Fleshman suffered from severe medical problems. In 1962, she suffered a stroke that required brain surgery and affected her left side. She had a history of chronic renal failure, at least since 1974, that required dialysis. In 1978 she briefly went into a coma. She had a kidney transplant in 1979 that required her to take numerous medications to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ.

Mrs. Fleshman complained of various side effects from the medications, including mental confusion, the need to urinate often, thinness of her skin making her prone to cuts and bruises, mood swings, a full face, a full stomach, bone deterioration, and weakness in her legs, plus the constant fear of infection and falling. The medication also affected her vision, requiring her to undergo cataract surgery in 1981. These side effects were documented by her treating physician.

Mrs. Fleshman had complained of pain in her legs and knees and difficulty in walking as early as 1977, when she began treatments for kidney failure. Her husband recognized a loss of memory and general confusion, which started with the use of medications after Mrs. Fleshman's kidney transplant in 1979. As her use of steroids and other medications continued, Mrs. Fleshman's condition deteriorated. Eventually, the pain and weakness of her legs left her incapable of climbing stairs, walking, or sitting or standing for any period of time. The danger of infection kept her away from crowds. This combination of side effects left her essentially housebound.

Mrs. Fleshman last met the disability insured status requirements on December 31, 1983. The issue we must resolve is whether or not substantial evidence in the record as a whole supports the ALJ's March 31, 1988, decision that Mrs. Fleshman was not...