Micus v. Bowen

• Decision Date: 12 November 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-3407,91-3407
• Citation: 979 F.2d 602
• Parties: , 3 NDLR P 171 Linda MICUS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 602

979 F.2d 602

39 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 457, 3 NDLR P 171

Linda MICUS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, Secretary of Health and Human Services,

Defendant-Appellee.

No. 91-3407.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued April 29, 1992.

Decided Nov. 12, 1992.

Harlan M. Noel, James Balanoff (argued), Munster, Ind., for plaintiff-appellant.

Gwenn R. Rinkenberger, Orest S. Szewciw, Asst. U.S. Attys., Dyer, Ind., George Jackiw (argued), Dept. of Health and Human Services, Region V, Office of the General Counsel, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellee.

Before CUMMINGS and COFFEY, Circuit Judges, and WOOD, Jr., Senior Circuit Judge.

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Senior Circuit Judge.

Linda Micus appeals from the order of the district court affirming the Secretary of Health and Human Services' ("Secretary") denial of her application for disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act ("Act"). 42 U.S.C. §§ 416(i), 423(d). We reverse and remand with instructions to the Secretary to grant benefits.

I. BACKGROUND

In June 1977 Linda Micus was diagnosed as having systemic lupus erythematosus ("lupus"). Lupus is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disease that attacks connective tissues and is characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including arthritis, pain in the joints, kidney and blood disorders, skin eruptions, and fever. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 958 (27th ed. 1988).

Although lupus is incurable and its cause unknown, medication can, at least temporarily, moderate its effects on many sufferers. For example, the anti-inflammatory corticosteroid, Prednisone, which was used to treat Ms. Micus, is commonly effective. Lastly, as a chronic disease lupus may lie dormant or quiescent, exhibiting no or slight manifestations, only to flare suddenly and debilitatingly.

Ms. Micus applied for Social Security disability benefits on two different occasions, but the Secretary denied both petitions. She appeals the denial of her second petition. Ms. Micus filed her first petition in September 1978, but it was denied initially and also on administrative review, January 22, 1979. She sought no further review, either administrative or judicial. Consequently, that petition is not at issue here, and she is not eligible for disability benefits before that date.

Ms. Micus filed her second petition on January 30, 1985, although the last day of her insurance coverage under the Act had been December 31, 1983. Therefore, she had to demonstrate she met disability criteria at or for the appropriate time during the period 1979 through 1983; nevertheless, the Secretary accepted relevant testimony and medical data through 1985 as relating back to her pre-1984 condition. This petition, too, was denied.

After a series of unsuccessful administrative appeals, Ms. Micus was granted a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"). The hearing took place on September 25, 1985, and the ALJ denied her petition on December 23, 1985. Her subsequent request for review was denied by the Appeals Council. Thus, the Secretary's decision became final, and she sought recourse in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

In a strongly and, we think, appropriately worded opinion, Chief Judge Sharp criticized the ALJ for his interpretation of the medical evidence. Micus v. Bowen, No. 86 C 510, Order on Cross-motions for Summary Judgment at 6 (N.D.Ind. Aug. 9, 1991). Chief Judge Sharp, nonetheless, "very reluctantly conclude[d]" that recent decisions of this court mandated that the Secretary's denial of benefits be affirmed. Id. at 5.

A timely appeal was filed; thus, we have jurisdiction.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Social Security Act both empowers and constrains a reviewing court. On one hand, the Act gives a court the "power to enter, upon the pleadings and transcript of the record, a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Secretary, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing." 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). On the other hand, the Act clearly states that the "findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive." Id.

As we are reviewing a factual determination made by the Secretary, and not the district court, we too must apply the "substantial evidence" standard, and not the clearly erroneous standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a). Imani v. Heckler, 797 F.2d 508, 510 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 988, 107 S.Ct. 580, 93 L.Ed.2d 583 (1986).

In Ehrhart v. Secretary of Health & Human Services, 969 F.2d 534 (7th Cir.1992), we recently elaborated what this standard of review means:

Substantial evidence means " 'more than a mere scintilla' " of proof, instead requiring " 'such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.' " In our reviewing capacity, however, we may not reweigh the evidence or decide whether a claimant is disabled. Nor may the court substitute its own judgment for that of the Secretary. By the same token, we must do more than merely rubber stamp the decisions of the Secretary.

Id. at 538 (citations omitted); accord Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971); Anderson v. Sullivan, 925 F.2d 220, 222 (7th Cir.1991); Farrell v. Sullivan, 878 F.2d 985, 988 (7th Cir.1989); Steward v. Bowen, 858 F.2d 1295, 1297 (7th Cir.1988). With this standard in mind, we review the proceedings below.

III. ANALYSIS

In reaching his decision on whether to grant disability benefits, the ALJ had numerous parcels of evidence to consider. Both Ms. Micus, who was represented by counsel, and her husband, Daniel Micus, testified at the hearing. Ms. Micus stated she was born March 13, 1952, in Chicago and graduated from high school. She was married, had two sons, three and six years old, respectively, and lived in Whiting, Indiana. Since 1970, she had worked mostly as a secretary but had been forced to stop in December 1978 because of arthritis, fatigue, weakness, pain in her joints, especially her knees and fingers, and pain in her legs and back.

Ms. Micus testified that because of sore throats and fever her physician at the time admitted her to South Chicago Community Hospital in May 1977. She spent three weeks in that hospital, was initially treated with massive doses of intravenous penicillin and, later, aspirin, and was diagnosed as possibly having cat-scratch fever. At Ms. Micus's request she was transferred on June 9th to Mercy Hospital, Chicago. Medical records show that, upon admission, she exhibited a butterfly rash on her face, arthralgia (joint pain), leukopenia (reduction in the number of leukocytes (white blood cells) commonly accompanied by increased susceptibility to infection, resulting, for example, in sore throat, fever, nasal congestion, and ear problems), tachypnea (rapid breathing), tinnitus (ringing in the ears), hearing problems and nasal congestion. She was tentatively diagnosed as having systemic lupus erythematosus. Subsequent tests confirmed that diagnosis and showed she was also suffering from salicylate (aspirin) intoxication. Aspirin was discontinued; Prednisone was prescribed; and she left the hospital June 18th.

The substance of the rest of Ms. Micus's testimony is that she was constantly in some sort of joint pain, always tired, frequently nauseous, and unable to work or be gainfully employed, to do much housework at all, to care for her children, to lift a gallon-container of milk, or to shop other than for the occasional loaf of bread. Her husband's testimony essentially corroborated hers. He added that she often needed help dressing and undressing and that when she was unable to climb the stairs at home in the evening because of weakness or the pain, she would sleep downstairs on the couch.

There were also forty-four exhibits. These included the records of Ms. Micus's treating physicians, Nancy L. Furey, M.D., and Warren W. Furey, M.D., and records from the hospitalization in June 1977 when her lupus was first diagnosed, a subsequent hospitalization in late June and early July 1985 for a flare-up of acute lupus, and hospitalizations in September 1979 and May 1982 for successful childbirth, both by cesarean section. These records show she was treated primarily with Prednisone, Bufferin, at times with Indocin (a nonsteroid, anti-inflammatory drug), and Valium.

One of the exhibits, accepted by the ALJ for consideration after the hearing, is a letter from Dr. Warren Furey, dated October 10, 1985, describing the status of Linda Micus's lupus from June 1977 through 1985. In the letter Dr. Furey reviewed the laboratory and clinical evidence for Ms. Micus's having lupus, the disease's effects on her, and the up and down course of her disease. The doctor concluded:

Linda continued to function during the 1977 through 1984 period, mostly through determination. She wanted children and she had them in spite of potential problems to herself. I know that at times her illness and the stress that it placed on herself and her husband caused marital difficulties and significant emotional stress as well. I did not intend to express an opinion when I started this dictation but having reviewed the chart as I have, I feel that Linda Micus indeed probably was disabled from the lupus from the time of onset.

No health-care provider or expert witness testified at the hearing. Thus, the ALJ had to rely solely on his own technical expertise to understand the medical records and to resolve both evidentiary and interpretive conflicts. The ALJ resolved these conflicts against Linda Micus. While the ALJ concluded that Ms. Micus did have lupus, he nonetheless discredited her testimony on the effects she suffered and the extent of her lupus.

First, the ALJ found the Micuses' testimony was not credible. He found, for example, treatment records indicated Ms. Micus had visited her physicians, Drs. Nancy and Warren Furey...