Holt v. Sullivan, 89-6010
| Decision Date | 22 January 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-6010,89-6010 |
| Parties | , Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 15867A Clara HOLT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Emily W. Lawyer, Tampa, Fla., Steve E. Moody, Moody & Jones, P.A., Plantation, Fla., for plaintiff-appellant.
Dexter Lehtinen, U.S. Atty., Grisel Alonso, Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty., Miami, Fla., Mary Rice, Elyse S. Sharfman, Mary Ann Sloan, Mack A. Davis, Bruce R. Granger, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before KRAVITCH and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and GODBOLD, Senior Circuit Judge.
Clara Holt appeals from the district court's affirmance of the Secretary's denial of disability benefits. She asserts that the Secretary did not give proper weight to her subjective complaints of pain and discomfort because he did not apply the correct legal standard to those claims. Holt also contends that the Secretary erred in finding that she was not disabled as a result of obesity and in not obtaining a medical expert to interpret the evidence of obesity that she presented. We reverse the Secretary's determination regarding Holt's subjective complaints and remand for the application of the proper standard. We affirm the Secretary's remaining determinations.
Holt is 5'2" tall and has consistently weighed 315 pounds since 1981. She testified at the administrative hearing that she is unable to stand for more than one hour or walk more than one block without becoming short of breath. She also described discomfort if she sits for an extended period. In addition, Holt produced medical records that demonstrated a long history of hypertension and complaints of fatigue, dizziness and nervousness at various times.
Holt has not worked since 1981. She had previously held several light and sedentary jobs. She worked at a naval ordnance depot for seven years until about 1975. She then worked for the next three years as a seamstress making house slippers. The job required that she sit at a sewing machine all day, which caused swelling in her legs. Holt testified that by the end of the day her hands were numb and her feet "would feel like they were going to crack up and ... it hurt every time I walk on them." She quit the seamstress job because of a dispute with the employer over the amount of time she spent away from her machine on bathroom breaks necessitated by her blood pressure medicine and exercising her legs to reduce swelling.
Holt also worked for two or three months in a turkey processing factory. The job required that she work standing up, which also caused Holt discomfort. She next tried a seamstress job making draperies, but found that prolonged periods of sitting caused the same problems as on the previous seamstress job. The new job also required lifting and pulling, which caused her arms to hurt.
Holt claimed disability from July 1, 1981, the alleged onset date, until March 31, 1984, the last day on which she met the disability earnings requirement. An ALJ denied the claim. He held that, while Holt's physical condition prevented her from doing work that required exertion, it did not prevent her from returning to the kind of sedentary work that she had done as a seamstress. The ALJ found no evidence of any nonexertional impairment despite Holt's testimony regarding the discomfort she experienced while working as a seamstress and turkey processor. He also determined that, under the regulations, Hold did not qualify for disability The Appeals Council affirmed the ALJ's ruling, and Holt sought review in district court. The district court adopted the magistrate's report and affirmed the ALJ's determinations.
based on obesity, and he declined to obtain expert medical testimony on whether Holt met the requirements of the obesity regulations.
Holt contends that the district court erred in affirming the Secretary's rejection of her disability claim because the ALJ did not give appropriate weight to her testimony regarding pain and other symptoms of her disability. We agree. 1
This court has established a three part "pain standard" that applies when a claimant attempts to establish disability through his or her own testimony of pain or other subjective symptoms. The pain standard requires (1) evidence of an underlying medical condition and either (2) objective medical evidence that confirms the severity of the alleged pain arising from that condition or (3) that the objectively determined medical condition is of such a severity that it can be reasonably expected to give rise to the alleged pain. See Landry v. Heckler, 782 F.2d 1551, 1553 (11th Cir.1986). The standard also applies to complaints of subjective conditions other than pain. Jackson v. Bowen, 873 F.2d 1111, 1114 (8th Cir.1989).
The claimant's subjective testimony supported by medical evidence that satisfies the...
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Rease v. Barnhart, No. 1:04-CV-3239-JMF.
...to credibility, but the implication must be obvious to the reviewing court. Dyer v. Barnhart, 395 F.3d 1206 (11th Cir.2005), citing Holt v. Sullivan, supra. The ALJ can satisfy this showing by considering, inter alia, the claimant's daily activities, the frequency of his symptoms, and the t......
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...medical condition by itself can support allegations of disabling pain if it is of sufficient severity. See Holt v. Sullivan, 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11th Cir. 1991) (per curiam) ("This court has established a three part 'pain standard' that applies when a claimant attempts to establish disabil......
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...to give rise to the alleged pain [or symptoms]." 782 F.2d 1551, 1553 (11th Cir. 1986) (per curiam); see Holt v. Sullivan, 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11th Cir. 1991) (per curiam) (holding that the pain standard also applies to complaints of subjective conditions other than pain); see also 20 C.F.R......
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Hurley v. Barnhart, No. 6:03 CV 1624 ORL JGG.
...such a severity that it can be reasonably expected to give rise to the alleged pain. Foote, 67 F.3d at 1560, quoting Holt v. Sullivan, 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11th Cir.1991). Pain alone can be disabling, even when its existence is unsupported by objective evidence, Marbury v. Sullivan, 957 F.2......
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...will be accepted as true as a matter of law. Ortega v. Chater , 933 F. Supp. 1071, 1076 (S.D. Fla. 1996), citing Holt v. Sullivan , 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11th Cir. 1991). § 202.3 SOCIAL SECURITY ISSUES ANNOTATED l. D.C. Circuit Caselaw in the D.C. Circuit “affords great weight to a treating ......
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Issue Topics
...medical condition must be of such severity that it can reasonably be expected to give rise to the alleged pain. Holt v. Sullivan, 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11th Cir. 1991). A claimant’s subjective testimony supported by medical evidence that satisfies the pain standard is itself sufficient to su......
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...the testimony be accepted as true ‘as a matter of law’” Foote v. Chater , 67 F.3d 1553, 1561 (11 th Cir. 1995), citing Holt v. Sullivan , 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11 th Cir. 1991). A reversal is warranted if the decision contains no indication of the proper application of the pain standard. Ort......
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Issue topics
...medical condition must be of such severity that it can reasonably be expected to give rise to the alleged pain. Holt v. Sullivan, 921 F.2d 1221, 1223 (11th Cir. 1991). A claimant’s subjective testimony supported by medical evidence that satisfies the pain standard is itself sufficient to su......