Keehn v. Halter, No. C00-3064-MWB (N.D. Iowa 3/23/2002)
| Decision Date | 23 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. C00-3064-MWB.,C00-3064-MWB. |
| Parties | GLEN A. KEEHN, Plaintiff, v. WILLIAM A. HALTER, Acting Commissioner of Social Security<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
The plaintiff Glen A. Keehn ("Keehn") appeals the denial of his claim for Title II disability insurance benefits. Keehn argues the administrative law judge ("ALJ") erred in (1) relying on an incomplete hypothetical question; (2) improperly evaluating the testimony of Keehn and his wife; and (3) improperly evaluating the medical evidence. The Commissioner resists Keehn's claims, asserting the ALJ's decision was based on substantial evidence in the record.
Keehn filed an application for disability insurance benefits on April 22, 1998, alleging a disability onset date of September 1, 1996. (R. 118-20) The application was denied initially (R. 85, 97-100), and upon reconsideration. (R. 86, 103-06) Keehn then requested a hearing, which was held in Mason City, Iowa, before ALJ John P. Johnson on May 4, 1999. (R. 41-82) Attorney Blake Parker represented Keehn at the hearing. Keehn, his wife Joan, and Vocational Expert ("VE") Jeff L. Johnson appeared and testified at the hearing.
On August 9, 1999, the ALJ ruled Keehn was not entitled to benefits. (R. 10-34) On June 16, 2000, the Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration denied Keehn's request for review (R. 5-6), making the ALJ's decision the final decision of the Commissioner.
Keehn filed a timely complaint in this court on August 16, 2000, seeking judicial review of the ALJ's ruling (Doc. No. 1). Pursuant to Administrative Order #1447, entered September 20, 1999, by Chief Judge Mark W. Bennett, this matter was referred to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) for the filing of a report and recommended disposition. Keehn filed a brief supporting his claim on January 18, 2001 (Doc. No. 10). On March 9, 2001, the Commissioner filed his brief. (Doc. No. 11) On March 22, 2001, Keehn filed a reply brief. (Doc. No. 12)
The court now deems the matter fully submitted, and pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), turns to a review of Keehn's application for benefits.
Keehn is seeking benefits for disability due to a history of left arm and hip pain, low back problems, chronic pain syndrome, and depression. At the time of the hearing in May 1999, Keehn was forty-seven years old, married, and living with his wife and teenage daughter. (R. 46) He was about six feet tall, and weighed 182 pounds. (Id.) He had an unrestricted driver's license. (R. 46-47)
Keehn graduated from high school and attended one semester of junior college. (R. 48) From 1979 to 1984, he worked at a mill. (R. 63, 180, 193) From 1985 to 1987, he worked as a feed salesman. (R. 62-63, 180, 190-92) From 1987 to 1990, he performed lawn care. (R. 61-62, 180, 187-89) For one month in 1991, he drove a truck, applying liquid fertilizer. (R. 61, 180, 184-86) From 1992 to June 1995, he worked as a mill manager, mixing and grinding feed. (R. 60, 180-83) This was his last job, which he lost when the mill down-sized. (R. 60) At the time of the hearing in May 1999, Keehn had not engaged in any work for four years, except for helping a neighbor feed cattle, for about twenty minutes to a half-hour about once every two months. (R. 48-50)
Keehn testified he could not hold a job because of low back, arm, and chest pain. (R. 50) The arm pain was residual from an automobile accident in October 1983, in which Keehn broke his arm, requiring the installation of a plate and several screws in his arm. (R. 50, 63) Keehn described the arm pain as "a constant ache," and when he lifts something, "a sharp pain." (R. 51) The low back pain started sometime in the four years prior to the hearing, and was not the result of any trauma — "It just came on." (R. 63) He described his low back pain as "a dull ache in my left hip, but then sometimes it travels across almost to my right side, and it's just kind of a burning aching pain." (R. 51) Sometimes the low back pain travels down his left leg "all the way almost to [his] ankle." (Id.) He also suffers from muscle spasms in his rib cage on the left side; his ribs also were broken in the automobile accident. (R. 58) At the time of the hearing, Keehn was not receiving any medical treatment for these problems. (R. 64)
Keehn testified he is never free from pain. (R. 52) He no longer goes for walks or mows the lawn. (Id.) It is painful for him to drive a car. (R. 53) In an effort to alleviate his pain, he alternates between sitting in one of his two recliners and on a couch, and then he walks for a short period of time. (R. 53-54) Because of shooting pains going down his leg, he has trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. (R. 54) He has medication for sleep, but only uses it sparingly. (R. 54) He has had to give up hiking, driving, and shopping as regular activities. (R. 55) He also has given up working with antiques and refinishing furniture. (R. 66) He does not belong to any organizations he attends regularly. (Id.)
On a typical day, Keehn gets up in the morning between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., watches the news, and waits for his wife and daughter to get up. (R. 56) At 8:00 a.m., after his wife goes to work and his daughter goes to school, Keehn watches television until noon. (Id.) In the morning, he might do some dishes or some other minor household chores. (Id.) Keehn will make "a sandwich or something for lunch." (Id.) In the afternoon, he again will watch television, or if he is "feeling fairly decent," he will "go outside and pick up some sticks. . . ." (Id.) Occasionally, he will drive to town to do some grocery shopping. (R. 47)
Keehn's wife comes home about 4:30 p.m, and Keehn talks with her about her day at work, eats supper, and watches television. (R. 56) Although he watches a lot of television, he gets "up and down a lot." (Id.) He can walk for only a quarter of a mile, or for fifteen to twenty minutes, before his left side, hip, and leg start aching, and then he has to sit down with his legs up for twenty minutes. (R. 57) Although he has good days and bad days, nine-tenths of his days are bad days. (R. 59)
Keehn testified he can lift fifty pounds with his right arm, but only up to twice a day. (R. 58) He can lift between ten and twenty pounds frequently. (Id.) He can stand for only twenty minutes before his back starts to stiffen up and his leg starts to ache. (R. 65) He has pain if he bends, stoops, or squats. (Id.) He cannot use his left arm to push or pull, and he cannot raise his left arm straight up over his head. (R. 65-66) He has no problems using either hand, but if he uses his left hand, he has pain in his left arm. (R. 65) He has no problems with memory, comprehension, stress, or getting along with others. (R. 66) He testified "getting up every morning . . . knowing you're going to be doing the same thing you did yesterday gets kind of depressing." (Id.)
Keehn testified he had only seen his current treating physician, Stephen D. Richards, D.O., two or three times in the preceding year, but explained this was because he could not afford treatment. (R. 64-65, 68) He testified his doctors have told him there is nothing they can do for his pain and he will "just have to live with it." (R. 68)
Keehn's wife, Joan, testified her husband cannot hold down a job because "he has a lot of pain in his left side, both in his arm, and in his leg, and in the hip area." (R. 69) According to Joan, Keehn is unable to sit for long periods of time, and is unable to drive for any distance without getting out of the car for rest periods. (R. 70) She confirmed that her husband has trouble sleeping. (R. 71)
The ALJ first posed the following hypothetical question to the VE:
The first assumption will be an individual who's 47, will be 48 as of tomorrow, and was 45 as of the alleged onset date of disability. He is a male. He has a high school education, and past relevant work . . ., and has the following impairments: He has degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with complaints of low back and leg pain, he is status post-open reduction and internal fixation of a fracture of the left humorous [sic] with complaints of pain, hypertension, an adjustment disorder with depressed mood, and [] a history of neuro-fiber mitosis, and complaints of chest pain as a result of fractured ribs, and as a result of a combination of those impairments, he has the residual functional capacity as follows: He cannot lift more than 20 pounds, routinely lift ten pounds, with no standing of more than 60 minutes at a time, no sitting of more than 60 minutes at a time, and no walking of more than three to four blocks at a time, with no repetitive bending, stooping, squatting, kneeling, crawling, or climbing, and no repetitive work with the left arm above the head, and he should not be exposed to excessive cold, and he should not be exposed to more than moderate levels of vibration. He should perform no work requiring very close attention to detail, and he should not work more than a regular pace, using three speeds of pace being fast, regular, and slow. Would this individual be able to perform any jobs he previously worked at either as he performed them, or as it is generally performed within the national economy?
(R. 76-77) The VE responded that the hypothetical man would not be able to perform any of his past work activity, but would have skills that could be transferred to other work within the national economy, such as those associated with sales, customer relations, or maintaining records. The VE said those skills "could be transferred to the position of a telephone solicitor . . . listed at the sedentary...
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