Morrison v. Astrue
| Decision Date | 28 November 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. C12–3005–LTS.,C12–3005–LTS. |
| Parties | Sandra Dee MORRISON, Plaintiff, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Blake Parker, Blake Parker Law Office, Clinton, IA, for Plaintiff.
Teresa K. Baumann, United States Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Defendant.
The plaintiff, Sandra Dee Morrison, seeks judicial review of a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security (the “Commissioner”) denying her applications for disability insurance benefits (“DIB”) and disabled widow's benefits under Title II and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) under Title XVI of the Social Security Act. 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g), 1383(c)(3). Morrison contends that the administrative record (“AR”) does not contain substantial evidence to support the Commissioner's decision that she is not disabled.
Morrison was born in 1959, graduated from high school and attended cosmetology school and truck-driving school where she obtained her Class A commercial driver's license. AR 34. She previously worked as a sandwich maker and waitress. AR 389. Morrison applied for DIB, disabled widow's benefits, and SSI on October 14, 2009. AR 145, 149, 152. She alleged disability beginning on November 1, 2006, due to panic and anxiety attacks, chemical imbalance, manic episodes, suicidal ideation, diabetes, and high blood pressure. AR 284. The Commissioner denied Morrison's applications initially and again on reconsideration. AR 64, 68, 74, 79, 82, 85. Morrison requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”). AR 88–89. On October 19, 2010, ALJ John E. Sandbothe held a hearing in which Morrison and a vocational expert (“VE”) testified. AR 30.
On December 2, 2010, the ALJ issued a decision finding Morrison not disabled since the alleged onset date of disability of November 1, 2006. AR 11–21. Morrison sought review of this decision by the Appeals Council, which denied review on November 18, 2011. AR 1–3. The ALJ's decision thus became the final decision of the Commissioner. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.981, 416.1481.
On January 20, 2012, Morrison filed a complaint in this court seeking review of the ALJ's decision. On January 26, 2012, with the parties' consent, United States District Judge Mark W. Bennett transferred the case to then Chief United States Magistrate Judge Paul A. Zoss for final disposition and entry of judgment. On June 8, 2012, the case was reassigned to me. The parties have briefed the issues, and the matter is now fully submitted.
Morrison reported to LaPorte Hospital in LaPorte, Indiana, on April 1, 2005, with severe depression, reports of hearing voices, difficulty handling stress, and a general inability to function. AR 393. Morrison's brother had died that day from a heroin overdose and Morrison found him on her bathroom floor. AR 395. Morrison had also recently lost her daughter on February 1, 2005, who died from complications related to pulmonary fibrosis. AR 395. Morrison lost significant weight during this time, and said she had no appetite and had not been eating. AR 398.
Dr. S.L. Prasad Babu performed a psychiatric evaluation and noted Morrison had been suffering with depression for the past several years. Morrison explained she had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and diabetes. AR 401–02. She denied current drug use, but a urine analysis came back positive for opiates, cannabinoids, and benzodiazepines. AR 393. Morrison had abused drugs in the past and served three years in prison for interstate trafficking of cocaine. AR 401–02. In evaluating Morrison's mental status, Dr. Babu noted she was extremely anxious, nervous, tense, and appeared sad and depressed. AR 402. She was feeling withdrawn, hopeless, and worthless and her hands were shaky and tremulous. AR 401. Dr. Babu remarked that Morrison tried to be cooperative in her attitude and was relevant, spontaneous, and able to express her feelings well. AR 402. She had crying spells and had not been sleeping well. Id. Dr. Babu assessed a Global Assessmentof Functioning (“GAF”) 1 score of 30. Morrison saw Dr. Babu daily for individual therapy, evaluation, and medication management until her discharge on April 7, 2005.
Upon discharge, Dr. Babu found Morrison had been sleeping well, eating fair, and was not depressed. AR 393. Morrison could pay attention and concentrate, and her appearance and hygiene were clean and neat. Id. Dr. Babu said she was alert and ambulatory and felt that she could be handled as an outpatient. Id. She was advised to follow up at Swanson Center where she had previously gone for counseling. AR 395.
Morrison began voluntarily treating at Swanson Center in February 2005 with Ann Simmons, a clinical social worker. AR 434. At this time Morrison was working two jobs. She had been at JoAnn Fabric since August 2004 and at Subway since November 2004. Morrison reported she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in May 1999 after she was hospitalized for attempted suicide. AR 584. She had been taking psychotropic medications for the past 20 years. Morrison was raised by foster parents, but maintained contact with her birth parents since she was age 18. Morrison reported she was abused verbally, emotionally, sexually, and physically by her foster dad, foster brother, ex-husband, and current husband. She was sexually abused from ages 4 to 17. Id. Morrison previously had substance abuse problems, but she had gone through treatment during incarceration and denied using drugs since. Id.
In February 2006, Ms. Simmons completed a treatment summary and an annual clinical assessment. AR 446–47, 453–455. In the treatment summary, Ms. Simmons noted that Morrison attended appointments regularly and took her medication as directed. AR 446. Morrison had made progress on some of her treatment goals. She was functioning at a higher level due to her employment with Subway and she had been approved to purchase a new mobile home. She was staying busy by doing sewing jobs on the side. She had recently filed for divorce and was helping her husband move into his own apartment. However, Morrison still struggled with relationship issues. She tended to isolate herself from others and spent a majority of time in her bedroom. Overall, Ms. Simmons found that Morrison had demonstrated improvement in therapy within the last two months. She had improved eye contact, was able to initiate conversation, and was listening more attentively. She was also more enthusiastic and motivated and meeting some of her goals seemed to have increased her desire to continue improving her level of functioning. Id.
In the annual clinical assessment, Ms. Simmons noted that Morrison said her anxiety had somewhat decreased. She had fewer symptoms of depression and she attributed the reduction in her anxiety and depression to her recent employment and keeping busy. However, she still felt sad and worried and she had difficulties with crying, focusing on tasks, and withdrawing from others. Ms. Simmons also commented on Morrison's recent memory, which she described as “somewhat impaired.”AR 454. Morrison explained she was very forgetful and frequently needed to write things down in order to remember what she needed to do during the day. She also relied on her children to help her with these memory problems. Morrison's orientation, information, intelligence, judgment, insight, and reliability were all within normal limits. Ms. Simmons noted that Morrison continued to demonstrate symptoms of significant emotional distress with depression and anxiety. She mentioned Morrison's continued difficulty with various events such as the death of her daughter, her divorce, moving homes, and returning to the work place. AR 455. She recommended that Morrison continue individual therapy and medication management.
In a Report of Psychiatric Status, requested by the Social Security Administration in July 2006 as part of a previous disability application, Ms. Simmons noted that Morrison's current GAF score was 45 and her highest in the past year was 52. AR 434. Ms. Simmons noted that manifestations of Morrison's mental disorder included significant mood swings, rapid and loud speech, transference issues when describing relationship problems, obsessive thinking about problems and perceived wrongdoings, racing thoughts, overly talkative, easily distracted, increase in work, sexual indiscretions, and mood changes that were noticed by her adult children. AR 435. She also noted Morrison had not used drugs and was able to continue with employment. Id. Finally, she added that Morrison had suicidal ideations, was tearful and sad, and lacked an appetite. Id.
In assessing Morrison's remote memory, Ms. Simmons noted that Morrison was preoccupied with her current problems and issues and had difficulty with concentration. AR 436. She wrote that Morrison reported forgetfulness, losing items, and frequently repeating herself. Id. In describing her functional capacity, Ms. Simmons stated Morrison was able to perform a majority of job duties as long as she was not distracted. Morrison needed a consistent repetitive pattern in order to do work and if she became distracted, she had difficulty and would have a panic attack. AR 438. Ms. Simmons also advised that Morrison needed supervision. As an example, she stated that Morrison's forgetfulness would have caused an error with a restaurant inspection where she was working had the supervisor not caught it.
In describing her social interaction, Ms. Simmons stated that Morrison had significant relationship problems with close family members, such as her mother, adult children, and her ex-husband. AR 438. She stated Morrison was unable to set boundaries, would become very resentful, angry, and full of rage. Morrison would verbally lash out towards her...
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...or her condition as disabling, especially when the claimant alleges that pain prevents him or her from working. Morrison v. Astrue, 906 F.Supp.2d 839, 858 (N.D. Iowa 2012) (citing Bentley v. Shalala, 52 F.3d 784, 786 (8th Cir. 1995)). "The same is not true for mental impairments, where symp......