Mullins v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

• Citation: 836 F.2d 980
• Decision Date: 26 June 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-1757.,86-1757.
• Parties: Milford MULLINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

836 F.2d 980

Milford MULLINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 86-1757.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Submitted June 19, 1987.

Decided June 26, 1987.

Diane M. Kwitoski, Goodman, Eden, Millender, and Bedrosian, Detroit, Mich., for plaintiff-appellant.

Ross I. MacKenzie, Asst. U.S. Atty., Detroit, Mich., Blanca Bianchi de la Torre, Dept. of H. & H.S., Office of The General Counsel, Region V, Anne M. Kenny, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellee.

Before KENNEDY and MILBURN, Circuit Judges, and CONTIE, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM.

Claimant Milford Mullins appeals from the district court's order affirming the determination of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) with respect to Mullins' disability onset date. Mullins argues on appeal that the medical evidence establishes that he was disabled as of February 13, 1980, rather than February 5, 1982, and he asserts that the Secretary's findings with regard to his residual functional capacity and nonexertional impairment limitations are not supported by substantial evidence. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

Claimant Mullins has filed two separate applications for disability insurance benefits, each claiming the same disability onset date. His first application was filed on May 30, 1980, in which Mullins alleged disability as of February 13, 1980, due to hypertension, arthritis and a lower back injury. This application was denied initially and upon reconsideration, and after conducting a hearing upon claimant's request, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found claimant to be not disabled on September 30, 1981.¹ This decision was affirmed by the Appeals Council on December 3, 1981, making the ALJ's determination the final decision of the Secretary. He sought judicial review of that decision in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and on January 31, 1983, the district court adopted the magistrate's recommendation to uphold the decision of the Secretary as being supported by substantial evidence.

Mullins' second application for disability insurance benefits was filed on March 7, 1983, again alleging February 13, 1980, as his disability onset date. In addition to the impairments listed in his first application, Mullins claimed that he was disabled due to a heart and lung condition. Mullins was granted benefits because of his heart condition on May 10, 1983; however, the Social Security Administration (Administration) determined that the medical evidence supported a disability onset date of February 5, 1982, not February 13, 1980.

Thereafter, claimant sought reconsideration of his disability onset date, and once his request for reconsideration was denied, he filed a timely request for another hearing. At this second hearing, which was conducted before the same ALJ who presided at the first administrative hearing, Mullins was represented by counsel. Both Mullins and a vocational expert testified. After hearing the testimony and reviewing the medical evidence of record, the ALJ, on February 16, 1984, reaffirmed the February 5, 1982 disability onset date. The ALJ concluded that claimant suffered from severe cardiovascular problems and moderate obstruction airway disease, but that claimant's degree of impairment prior to February 5, 1982, was not medically determinable. The ALJ held that Mullins retained the functional capacity to perform a full range of light work even though he was unable to perform his past relevant work as a crane operator. Relying on these conclusions, as well as claimant's age and education, the ALJ found him not disabled.² The Appeals Council affirmed this decision, despite additional medical evidence submitted by Mullins.

Claimant then filed this claim in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. While the magistrate recommended that the district court decline to reach the merits,³ the district court rejected this recommendation. In reaching the merits, however, the court concluded that the Secretary's decision as to the disability onset date was supported by substantial evidence.

This timely appeal followed.

II.

On review of the Secretary's decision to deny benefits or a period of disability, this court may set aside factual findings only if those findings are not supported by substantial evidence. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). "Substantial evidence" means "`more than a mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.'" Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971) (quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 217, 83 L.Ed.2d 126 (1938)). The substantiality of the evidence must be judged by viewing the record as a whole, Allen v. Califano, 613 F.2d 139, 145 (6th Cir.1980), and "`must take into account whatever in the record fairly detracts from its weight.'" Beavers v. Secretary of Health, Educ. & Welfare, 577 F.2d 383, 387 (6th Cir.1978) (quoting Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 488, 71 S.Ct. 456, 464, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1951)). Even if the reviewing court would have resolved the issues of fact differently, the Secretary's determination must stand if supported by substantial evidence. Kinsella v. Schweiker, 708 F.2d 1058 (6th Cir.1983) (per curiam).

A claimant has the ultimate burden of establishing an entitlement to benefits by proving the existence of a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A).⁴ If an individual makes out a prima facie case of disability by establishing that he has a severe impairment and is unable to return to his past relevant work — as was done in the instant case — the burden shifts to the Secretary to prove that the individual is "able to perform substantial gainful activity in the national economy." Kirk v. Secretary of Health & Human Services, 667 F.2d 524, 528 (6th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 957, 103 S.Ct. 2428, 77 L.Ed.2d 1315 (1983).⁵ In satisfying this burden, the Secretary must consider the individual's education, job experience, residual physical capacity and education. See 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(2)(A); 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(f)(1); Heckler v. Campbell, 461 U.S. 458, 460, 103 S.Ct. 1952, 1953, 76 L.Ed.2d 66 (1983). This burden can, on occasion, be satisfied by relying on the medical-vocational guidelines (the "grid") which were adopted by the Administration to aid in the determination of disability. See 20 C.F.R. pt. 404, subpt. P, app. 2; Campbell, 461 U.S. at 461, 103 S.Ct. at 1954. If a claimant's characteristics identically "correspond to the job requirements identified by a rule, the guidelines direct a conclusion as to whether work exists that the claimant could perform." Campbell, 461 U.S. at 462, 103 S.Ct. at 1955. However, if a claimant's characteristics "do not identically match the description in the grid," the grid can only be used as a guide; the Secretary must consider the claimant's individual limitations in making the ultimate determination. Kirk, 667 F.2d at 528; see also Campbell, 461 U.S. at 462 n. 5, 103 S.Ct. at 1955 n. 5.

Mullins challenges the Secretary's determination on several grounds. First, Mullins asserts that his cardiovascular impairment, which is a listed impairment, see 20 C.F.R. pt. 404, subpt. P, app. 1, § 4.04B7, existed as of February 13, 1980. Second, appellant argues that the ALJ's finding that he had the residual functional capacity to do a full range of light work is not supported by substantial evidence and is contrary to the ALJ's prior decision. Finally, appellant asserts that the ALJ erred in relying on the grid because he suffers from a severe nonexertional impairment related to his pulmonary condition.

A.

Claimant's principal argument is that his cardiovascular impairment, which forms the basis of the Administration's finding of disability as of February 5, 1982, was in fact existent as of February 13, 1980. To support his argument, appellant relies on the letter of Dr. Irwin Schatz dated February 24, 1984. Dr. Schatz reviewed Mullins' ventriculograms and arteriograms (cardiac catheterization tests) which were performed on April 17, 1980, and August 11, 1982. The August 11, 1982 cardiac catheterization study was the medical evidence which established that claimant was disabled as of February 5, 1982, six months prior to the study.⁶

The April 17, 1980 cardiac catheterization was performed by Dr. Felix Rogers, who reported that the study revealed:

luminal irregularities and a small aneurysm at the juncture of the proximal third and middle third of the main vessel without significant stenosis. The left coronary artery revealed narrowing of the left anterior descending branch in the proximal without significant stenosis.

Dr. Roger's report does not support a finding that Mullins suffered from a cardiovascular impairment listed in Appendix 1 nor does Mullins so assert. See 20 C.F.R. pt. 404, subpt. P, app. 1, § 4.04B7.⁷ However, in his February 24, 1984 letter, Dr. Schatz opined that there was:

no significant difference between the April 17, 1980 and the August 11, 1982 studies, and in my opinion they demonstrate the same degree of coronary artery obstructive disease. The first study is not seen as clearly as the second, and is done at a lower magnification; it is likely that differences in interpretation are based on these technical matters and not on any real changes in the coronary anatomy.

Claimant argues, therefore, that the April 17, 1980 catheterization results were incorrectly interpreted by Dr. Rogers and that Dr. Schatz's review of the two catheterization reports reveals that Mullins was in fact disabled from his cardiac condition as of February 1980. Essentially, claimant asserts that the August 1982 catheterization report establishes that the chest pains he was experiencing in February 1980 were...