Ford v. Astrue

• Decision Date: 13 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-1791.,07-1791.
• Citation: 518 F.3d 979
• Parties: June FORD, Appellant, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

518 F.3d 979

June FORD, Appellant, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Appellee.

No. 07-1791.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: December 14, 2007.

Filed: March 13, 2008.

E. Gregory Wallace, argued, Buies Creek, NC, Anthony W. Bartels, on the brief, Jonesboro, AR, for appellant.

Eric B. Tucker, SSA, argued, Dallas, TX, for appellee.

Before BYE, ARNOLD, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

This social security case has a lengthy procedural history. When June Ford applied for social security disability benefits, an administrative law judge denied her claim following a hearing and the Appeals Council denied review. While Ms. Ford's subsequent appeal was pending in federal district court, the parties agreed to a remand to the Social Security Administration to obtain vocational expert testimony. After a hearing on remand, an ALJ denied her claim based on the entire record, including the evidence adduced at both hearings. When the Appeals Council denied review, the second ALJ's decision became the final decision of the Social Security Commissioner.¹ See Scott v. Chater, 112 F.3d 367, 367 (8th Cir.1997). The district court upheld the Commissioner's decision and Ms. Ford appealed. We reverse the judgment and remand the case to the district court with directions to remand it to the Social Security Administration for further consideration.

We review the district court's decision de novo to determine whether the Commissioner's denial of benefits complies with the relevant legal requirements and is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole. See Pettit v. Apfel, 218 F.3d 901, 902 (8th Cir.2000).

As one prerequisite to obtaining benefits, a claimant must show that he or she has a severe medically determinable impairment. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4)(ii). Here, the ALJ determined that Ms. Ford's degenerative disc disease and muscle spasms were severe impairments as that term is used in the regulations. He also concluded that her depression and carpal-tunnel-syndrome symptoms were non-severe impairments. After determining that Ms. Ford's impairments did not meet any of social security's list of circumstances under which disability is presumed, see 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iii), the ALJ was required to determine her residual functional capacity (RFC), i.e., the most that she was capable of doing despite the combined effects of both her severe and non-severe medically determinable impairments, 20 C.F.R. § 404.1545(a); see Casey v. Astrue, 503 F.3d 687, 691 n. 3 (8th Cir.2007). In making this determination, the ALJ had to consider "all of the relevant medical and other evidence." See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1545(a)(3).

When determining Ms. Ford's RFC, the ALJ was required to consider her own description of her pain and limitations. Masterson v. Barnhart, 363 F.3d 731, 738 (8th Cir.2004). Ms. Ford contended that she is significantly disabled by severe muscle spasms and pain in her back that prevent her from walking or standing and from which she sometimes does not recover for days. Ms. Ford had worked as a bank teller for thirteen years, and she reported on a social security form that she had continued to work despite having back pain until she began to have immobilizing spasms in her back. On another form, she reported that she sometimes went several weeks without having a severe attack, that she had daily back pain, and that she never knew when a severe spasm would occur. She testified that because the attacks often came without warning, she was unable to give an employer notice so that a replacement would be available.

There is not much medical evidence in the record that corroborates the specifics of Ms. Ford's account, but there is evidence from Ms. Ford, administrative personnel, and examining and consulting doctors that indicates that she took prescription pain medication (Ultram) and a muscle relaxer (Soma) during the relevant period. She also provided written statements from witnesses regarding her condition: Her son-in-law wrote that in the last ten to fifteen years, she had "extremely bad problems with her back." When it "flares up," he said, "she is almost completely immobilized and on several occasions I have had to physically move her from one place to another. During these incidents she appears to be in severe pain and I believe there is no possible way that she would be able to work under these circumstances." According to her sister, Ms. Ford's pain became severe over time and began to prevent her from moving.

Ms. Ford also stated that she had shoulder and neck pain, as well as pain in her hands, wrists, and arms that had been diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome, and that she suffered from thyroid disease and depression. She acknowledged that her thyroid disease was correctable with medication. She indicated that she had been taking a prescription antidepressant (Prozac) since her first husband died in a car accident eight years earlier and that her depression worsened when her pain increased.

The ALJ did not fully credit Ms. Ford's complaints of pain and she challenges this determination as her sole issue on appeal. Our frequently-cited opinion in Polaski v. Heckler, 739 F.2d 1320, 1321-22 (8th Cir.1984), is thus central to the case. Under Polaski, an ALJ cannot simply reject complaints of pain because they were not supported by objective medical evidence. Instead, the ALJ must fully consider all evidence relating to the subjective complaints, including the claimant's work record, as well as observations of the claimant by others (including treating and examining doctors) as to such matters as her daily activities; the intensity, duration, and frequency of her pain and the conditions causing and aggravating the pain; and...