Johnson v. Chater, 95-3727

• Decision Date: 03 July 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-3727,95-3727
• Citation: 87 F.3d 1015
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 15264B Jeanette JOHNSON, Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1015

87 F.3d 1015

51 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 237, Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 15264B

Jeanette JOHNSON, Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Appellee.

No. 95-3727.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted April 11, 1996.

Decided July 3, 1996.

Stephanie Bartels Wallace, Jonesboro, AR, argued (Anthony Bartels, on the brief), for Appellant.

Janet Hunter Lane, Health and Human Services, Dallas TX, argued (Joseph B. Liken, Tina M. Waddell and Martin W. Long, on the brief), for Appellee.

Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, and BOWMAN and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Jeanette M. Johnson filed an application for Social Security disability insurance benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits on May 19, 1992, with a protective filing date of March 10, 1992. Her claim was denied both initially and upon reconsideration, and a hearing was held before an administrative law judge (ALJ), who found that Johnson was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act. The Appeals Council denied review, and the district court ¹ granted summary judgment affirming the denial of benefits. We find that the ALJ's decision is supported by the record as a whole, and thus we affirm.

I.

Jeanette Johnson is a thirty-seven-year-old woman who has completed her GED and some college classes. She has worked as a secretary, bookkeeper, hotel manager, and she was working as a receptionist and attending college classes until the time of an automobile accident on February 10, 1992. On that date, Johnson was hit broadside by an uninsured motorist and was taken to the emergency room at St. Bernard's Hospital. She was experiencing pain in her left shoulder, arm, side, leg, and back, which was treated with Tylenol # 3, Robaxin, and Toradol, and she was given prescriptions for Tylenol # 3 and Robaxin upon her release. X-rays showed no fractures or acute injuries.

Johnson has not worked or attended college classes since the accident. She testified at the hearing before the ALJ that she is unable to work because of a constant stabbing pain in the mid-low back that radiates to her hips, buttocks, legs, neck, shoulders, head and left arm, also causing intermittent numbness in her left middle finger and forefinger. Johnson characterized her pain as so severe that she has difficulty walking more than a block or sitting for more than twenty minutes. She cannot run, jump, bend, lift, kneel, crawl, or climb a ladder. Johnson testified that because she has no money to pay for medication, she uses the free samples that she is given by the medical personnel at Jonesboro Church Health, a clinic that bills patients on the basis of their ability to pay. She takes 800 milligrams of Motrin three times per day, even though she has irritable bowel syndrome and the medicine irritates her stomach. She also uses ice packs for the pain.

The ALJ, following the five-step analysis set out in 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520 and 416.920, concluded that Johnson did not have a mental impairment but that she did have a severe combination of physical impairments that included fibromyalgia, obesity, mild endometriosis controlled with medication, hypothyroid controlled with medication, and minimal, if any, degenerative changes of the lumbar spine. The ALJ found, however, that the impairments did not meet or equal a listed impairment presumed to be disabling. The ALJ found that Johnson's subjective complaints of severe and debilitating pain and other symptoms were not credible and that although she could not lift and carry more than twenty-five pounds, she retained the residual functional capacity to perform her past relevant work and thus was not disabled within the meaning of the Act.

Johnson argues on appeal that the ALJ erred in discounting her subjective testimony regarding the severity of her pain, in determining that she had no medically determinable mental impairment, and in ultimately finding that she could perform her past relevant work.

II.

We will uphold the ALJ's decision to deny benefits if it is supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole; that is, if a reasonable mind would find the evidence adequate to support the ALJ's conclusion. Baumgarten v. Chater, 75 F.3d 366, 368 (8th Cir.1996). We must consider both evidence that supports and evidence that detracts from the Secretary's decision, but we may not reverse merely because substantial evidence exists for the opposite decision. Woolf v. Shalala, 3 F.3d 1210, 1213 (8th Cir.1993).

In discounting Johnson's subjective complaints of pain, the ALJ followed the factors set forth in Polaski v. Heckler, 739 F.2d 1320, 1322 (8th Cir.1984). Under Polaski, the ALJ must consider the claimant's prior work history, as well as any observations by third parties regarding: (1) the claimant's daily activities; (2) the duration, frequency, and intensity of the pain; (3) dosage, effectiveness, and side effects of medication; (4) precipitating and aggravating factors; and (5) functional restrictions. Id. An ALJ may discount a claimant's subjective complaints of pain only if there are inconsistencies in the record as a whole. Smith v. Shalala, 987 F.2d 1371, 1374 (8th Cir.1993).

Applying these factors, the ALJ specifically found that although Johnson's consistent work history did not detract from her credibility, it was outweighed by other factors. The ALJ pointed to inconsistencies in the record that detracted from the credibility of Johnson's complaints of pain. After a careful examination of the record as a whole, we find that it supports the ALJ's determination.

The record supports the ALJ's contention that Johnson's sparse use of pain medication does not support her complaints of severe pain. We have held that a claimant's failure to take strong pain medication is "inconsistent with subjective complaints of disabling pain." Haynes v. Shalala, 26 F.3d 812, 814 (8th Cir.1994). Johnson reported to Dr. Ball in June 1992 that she was taking only about a half tablet of Darvocet at a time for her pain. She also reported to Dr. Stubblefield that she was no longer taking a muscle relaxant and that she was taking about a half tablet of Darvocet only for...