Francis v. Heckler

• Decision Date: 10 January 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-8323,84-8323
• Citation: 749 F.2d 1562
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 15,725 William J. FRANCIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret M. HECKLER, Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1562

749 F.2d 1562

8 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 110, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 15,725

William J. FRANCIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret M. HECKLER, Secretary of Health and Human

Resources, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 84-8323.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

Jan. 10, 1985.

Leslie R. Stallknecht, Macon, Ga., for plaintiff-appellant.

Frank L. Butler, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., Elyse Sharfman, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Before RONEY and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges, and TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge.

TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge:

William Francis appeals from the district court's affirmance of the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ) denying Francis's claim for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income. Francis alleges disability due to a heart condition, arthritis, pain in his chest and joints, lung disease, a tumor on his right hand, impaired vision, hypertension, and cancer of the lip. His past work was as a heavy laborer, and the administrative law judge found that he was unable to perform this past relevant work. The ALJ found, however, that Francis had the residual functional capacity for "medium work" as defined by Social Security Administration regulations 404.1567 and 416.967. The ALJ then applied the "grid," 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, App. 2, to find Francis not disabled.

I. ISSUES

The significant issues for decision by this Court are as follows:

1. Whether the administrative law judge applied an improper legal standard in evaluating the effect of claimant's pain.

2. Whether the ALJ's determination that claimant retains the residual functional capacity to perform medium work is supported by substantial evidence.

3. Whether the ALJ appropriately relied on the grid to show the availability of alternative employment for Francis without requiring vocational expert testimony.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard for Evaluating Pain

Francis contends the ALJ applied an improper legal standard in evaluating the effect of his pain by ignoringEleventh Circuit holdings that pain alone may establish a disability even in the absence of objective medical evidence of pain. Wiggins v. Schweiker, 679 F.2d 1387 (11th Cir.1982). The government responds that the ALJ appropriately evaluated Francis's pain in light of his credibility and of the objective medical evidence. The government argues that it is appropriate to consider the lack of objective medical evidence as one factor in evaluating pain. Allen v. Schweiker, 642 F.2d 799 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981).

The Secretary must prevail on this issue. The ALJ's "evaluation of the evidence" discusses his evaluation of claimant's pain as follows:

Claimant alleges pain as a source of impairment, stating he suffers from pain of such severity that it is a major factor in his inability to work. Social Security Administration Regulations 404.1529 and 416.429 provides that the Administration will consider all symptoms, including pain and the extent to which signs and laboratory findings confirm these symptoms. The effects of all symptoms, including severe and prolonged pain, must be evaluated on the basis of a medically determinable impairment which can be shown to be the cause of the symptom. The Administration will never find that an individual is disabled based on their symptoms, including pain, unless medical signs or findings show that there is a medical condition that could be reasonably expected to produce those symptoms. In the instant case the Administrative Law Judge has not failed to consider the problems claimant may be having with his impairment. No doubt he has experienced, and will continue to experience, some symptoms of discomfort related to his impairments. However, the degree of discomfort has not been shown to have been of sufficient severity to preclude him from engaging in substantial gainful activity. Claimant's allegation of severe and prolonged pain is credible to preclude heavy work but is not credible to preclude medium, light and sedentary work.

The ALJ concluded in his findings, "Claimant's allegations of pain, shortness of breath and other subjective symptoms are credible to preclude him from engaging in heavy work activities but are not credible to preclude him from engaging in medium, light and sedentary work activities."

It is well established in theEleventh Circuit that pain alone can be disabling, even when its existence is unsupported by objective evidence. Wiggins, 679 F.2d at 1390; Walden v. Schweiker, 672 F.2d 835, 840 (11th Cir.1982); Boyd v. Heckler, 704 F.2d 1207, 1210-11 (11th Cir.1983). Proof of disability under the Social Security Act, however, does require proof of a "medically determinable physical or mental impairment," 42 U.S.C. Secs. 416(i)(1) and 423(d)(1)(A). The Court in Wiggins explained how these two requirements work together as follows: "The underlying impairment or the cause of the pain must be medically determinable; the complaints of pain themselves need not be supported by objective findings in order for the ALJ to consider whether the pain is disabling." Wiggins, 679 F.2d at 1391. The administrative law judge seems to us to have used this standard.

B. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Once the ALJ has determined that a claimant is unable to carry on his ordinary work, the burden then shifts to the Secretary to establish that he has the residual functional capacity for either "medium work," "sedentary" work or "light" work. Strickland v. Harris, 615 F.2d 1103 (5th Cir.1980); Knott v. Califano, 559 F.2d 279 (5th Cir.1977). The standard of review is whether the ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence.

Francis challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the ALJ's finding that he has the residual functional capacity to perform medium work. Medium work requires the ability to lift 50 pounds, to carry 25 pounds frequently, and to do a good deal of walking and standing. Whether the claimant can meet this standard is critical in this case because if the ALJ had found that the claimant could only perform light or sedentary work, application of the "grids" would have directed a finding that Francis was disabled.

Francis argues that his pain and motion limitations from his arthritis alone would be enough to preclude medium work. He points out that his treating physician, Dr. Daniel, said that it was doubtful whether he could perform any gainful employment. He contends that consideration of all of his impairments in combination as required by the Social Security Regulations demonstrate that he cannot do medium work.

The Secretary contends that the ALJ properly found that Francis's impairments do not disable him from performing medium work. She argues that Dr. Daniel's opinion that claimant is disabled is not supported by clinical or laboratory findings and that it is appropriate to accord greater weight to the opinions of other physicians, such as Dr. Wallace's opinion in this case, when those opinions are supported by adequate findings as opposed to a conclusory statement of the treating physician. Oldham v. Schweiker, 660 F.2d 1078 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981). Finally, the Secretary points out that, as to Disability Insurance Benefits (but not as to Supplemental Security Income), the claimant must prove that he was disabled as of December 31, 1979, the last date on which he met the special earnings requirements, and that evidence of impairments thereafter is irrelevant to the DIB claim.

A brief summary of the impairments alleged by the claimant, the government's responses, and the ALJ's findings, follows:

Heart Condition and Chest Pain. Francis alleges that he has suffered two myocardial infarctions and that he has been hospitalized numerous times for excruciating chest pain. The government responds that there is no evidence of Francis's heart condition other than his own testimony. The Secretary further points out that records of the various hospitalizations show no EKG abnormalities and that his pain has been diagnosed as "skeletal muscle spasm" or "chest pain of questionable etiology, probably related to emotional ability versus gastro-intestinal distress." A report by consulting physician Dr. Wallace, on April 10, 1980, reveals no heart murmurs, an EKG within normal limits, and a stress test that was interpreted as negative. Francis challenges the adequacy of the stress test because he did not complete the test due to exhaustion. The ALJ found claimant's allegations of chest pain "credible to preclude heavy work," but "not credible to preclude medium, light and sedentary work."

Arthritis and Joint Pain. Francis has been diagnosed by Dr. Daniel as having osteoarthritis. This condition limits motion in his lumbar spine to 75 degrees flexion and 15 degrees extension. He also has pain in several of his joints and leg pain upon walking short distances. Francis contends that the pain and motion limitations from this arthritic impairment alone are sufficient to prevent medium work. The government responds that arthritis is not disabling unless it limits the individual's ability to engage in substantial gainful activity. The Secretary points out that the examination by Dr. Wallace showed that aside from the lumbar spine, Francis had a full range of motion in all joints and that there was no evidence of redness or atrophy in plaintiff's joints. The ALJ found that the claimant did suffer from "multiple arthralgia" but found that this did not preclude the complainant from doing medium work.

Lung Disease. Francis alleges that he is unable to do medium work because of chronic obstructive lung disease. He points to Dr. Wallace's observations of scattered rhonchi, a chest x-ray which reveals scattered fibrotic changes, and Dr. Wallace's finding that Francis is allergic to dust. Claimant further points to his testimony that he is unable to walk one-half block without becoming short of...