Hovenga v. Astrue

• Decision Date: 07 June 2010
• Docket Number: No. C09-3075-PAZ.,C09-3075-PAZ.
• Citation: 715 F.Supp.2d 848
• Parties: Thereasa HOVENGA, Plaintiff, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

715 F.Supp.2d 848

Thereasa HOVENGA, Plaintiff,

v.Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.

No. C09-3075-PAZ.

United States District Court,N.D. Iowa,Central Division.

June 7, 2010.

Hugh M. Field, Beecher, Field, Walker, Morris, Hoffman & Johnson, PC, Waterloo, IA, for Plaintiff.

Teresa K. Baumann, United States Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PAUL A. ZOSS, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the court for judicial review of the defendant's decision denying the plaintiff's applications for disability insurance (“DI”) under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 401 et seq., and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) under Title XVI of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.

On July 28, 2006, the plaintiff Thereasa Hovenga filed applications for DI and SSI benefits alleging she has been disabled since June 21, 2004. ¹ Her applications were denied initially and on reconsideration. A hearing was held before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) on December 23, 2008. On January 30, 2009, the ALJ issued her decision, ruling that Hovenga was not disabled, and therefore was not entitled to benefits. On September 23, 2009, the Appeals Council denied Hovenga's request for review, making the ALJ's decision the final decision of the Commissioner.

Hovenga filed a timely Complaint in this court seeking judicial review of the ALJ's ruling. She claims she suffers from three distinct disorders, which together prevent her from engaging in substantial gainful employment: “(1) severe coronary artery disease, which has resulted in chronic chest pain; (2) severe degenerative disc disease, which has resulted in chronic lower back pain; and (3) a serious mood disorder, which symptoms include significant depression and anxiety.” Doc. No. 10, at 2. She argues the Commissioner erred in not properly evaluating her subjective allegations about the extent of her pain and fatigue; not giving sufficient weight to the opinions of her treating medical providers; posing incomplete hypothetical questions to the vocational expert; concluding she was not disabled despite finding that she was restricted to a range of sedentary work that was significantly eroded; and because the overwhelming evidence supports a finding of disability. She asks that the court reverse the decision of the ALJ and remand for computation of benefits. Alternatively, she asks that her case be remanded to allow the Commissioner to correct the errors that occurred in her case.

On December 21, 2009, with the parties' consent, Judge Donald E. O'Brien transferred the case to the undersigned for final disposition and entry of judgment. The parties have briefed the issues, and the matter is now fully submitted and ready for review.

The court must decide whether the ALJ applied the correct legal standards, and whether her factual findings are supported by substantial evidence based on a review of the record as a whole. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); Page v. Astrue, 484 F.3d 1040, 1042 (8th Cir.2007) (citations omitted). In this deferential review, the court will consider the record in its entirety to determine whether a reasonable mind would find the evidence adequate to support the Commissioner's conclusion. Krogmeier v. Barnhart, 294 F.3d 1019, 1022 (8th Cir.2002) (citations omitted); Pelkey v. Barnhart, 433 F.3d 575, 578 (8th Cir.2006).

At the ALJ hearing, Hovenga testified she was forty years old, 5'3? inches tall, and weighed about 126 pounds. She was separated from her husband, and lived with her brother-in-law, an eighteen-year-old son, and a disabled twenty-year-old son. Her only source of income was child support.

Hovenga has an unrestricted driver's license, and drives about twenty miles a week, but a friend drove her to the hearing. She completed the eighth grade. She did not obtain a GED because of an “attention deficiency” that kept her from completing a required essay. She has some vocational training, and was certified as a nurse's aide in 1984 or 1985. She has limited reading and writing skills, but she can read a newspaper and subtract to make change. She can pay her bills, but does a poor job with this task. At the time of the ALJ hearing, she was on notice that her water and electric services were being turned off for nonpayment.

From 2003 to September 2006, Hovenga worked from ten to twenty hours a week at AmeriHost Inn as a housekeeper. On June 21, 2004, after a five-year history of chest pains, Hovenga went to the hospital for tests. During the tests, she testified she “died on the table.” Emergency heart bypass surgery was performed, and she recovered. After she was released from the hospital, she returned to work at AmeriHost, where special accommodations were made so she could continue working. These accommodations included reducing her work hours, assigning her only to first-floor rooms to clean, and not requiring her to lift heavy baskets. She quit her job when AmeriHost increased her workload. Before working at AmeriHost, she had worked for five years, about twenty-four hours a week, at a company baking cookies. She lost that job when the company moved away. Before that, she had worked off and on as a nurse's aide, working about thirty hours a week. She testified that as of the date of the ALJ hearing, she could not do any of her past jobs because of severe back and chest pains.

Hovenga testified she has “never been able to work a full time job.” R. 23. The ALJ asked Hovenga if she would be able to work at a job where she could sit for most of the day, and she responded that she could not. She stated, “It's mainly my back. I have to sit for a little while. Then I have to stand. Sometimes walk around in the same area for a minute or so.” R. 25. She testified that after sitting for fifteen to twenty minutes, she has to stand up. She can stand or walk for up to a half hour before she has to sit. She is unable to perform any activity for longer than fifteen minutes without getting tired and having back pain, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. When she lifts her arms, she becomes numb in her arms, hands, and fingers. She can only lift things that weigh less than ten pounds. She has difficulty climbing stairs because of shortness of breath and pain in her back and leg. At the time of the hearing, Hovenga was experiencing pain in her lower back, going down her buttocks into her right leg. She also had numbness on the side of her right leg and down onto the top of her foot. The pain in her right leg and foot had been off and on, but for the two or three months before the hearing, it had been continuous. “It's like a stabbing. Sometimes it's just aching.” R. 26. She testified that the pain is precipitated by bending and other activity.

A heating pad helps. She also takes Meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication prescribed for arthritis, every morning, and up to three hydrocodone tablets a day. The Meloxicam does not help her back pain, although it does help with arthritis she has in her hands. She has no side effects from the medicine. She testified that the hydrocodone is “pretty effective” with the pain, but it makes her drowsy and can make her nauseous. She attempts to relieve the pain with back rubs by her son and by using Icy Hot. She tried physical therapy three or four times, and it relieved her pain for up to a month, but the pain returned each time. She has a TENS unit, but it “doesn't seem to help.” R. 28. At the time of the hearing, she was scheduled for some type of shot in her spine. She has been told by a physician's assistant that she is not a candidate for back surgery because of her heart condition.

Hovenga testified she has chest pains every day, at least three times a day. They started about a year after her bypass surgery. She takes nitroglycerine for this, and “[i]t's pretty effective,” although it makes her feel lightheaded. R. 29. When the ALJ asked if she had talked to a doctor about her chest pains, she responded that she had a “major problem” with her cardiologist because she had overheard him saying “very rude things,” and he had lied to her and her family. R. 30.

She testified she sometimes suffers from depression. She has seen several psychologists and psychiatrists for this problem. At the time of the hearing, she was taking Pristiq, an antidepressant, that was effective and had no side effects. R. 25-27. She also has problems with her memory. Also, when she is around other people, she is bitter, angry, and nervous, although she has not had problems with coworkers or supervisors. R. 27.

On a typical day, she spends her time watching movies on the television. She has trouble concentrating, but is able to follow about seventy percent of what she is watching because she only watches movies she has seen before. Once in awhile, she will get up, do some dishes or some laundry, and then sit down again. Later, she will get up and do some more dishes or laundry. She cannot make her bed without stopping because she becomes short of breath. Because of back pain, she is only able to bathe and wash her hair every four or five days. She seldom drinks. She last used illegal drugs ten to twelve years earlier. Neither alcohol nor drug usage affected her attendance or performance at work.

Medical Records of Coronary Artery Disease

On June 21, 2004, Hovenga was admitted to the hospital complaining of chest pains. On admittance, she stated she had been having chest pains for eight years, but she was not aware of any serious heart problems. A cardiac catheterization procedure was performed which showed she was suffering from an occluded right coronary artery and “very tight left main coronary artery disease.” R. 243. During the procedure, she experienced cardiac arrest, with multiple episodes of tachycardia. An emergency procedure was preformed, which involved the placement of an intra-aortic balloon pump and a stent in her left...