Stemple v. Astrue

• Decision Date: 26 February 2007
• Docket Number: Civil No. SKG-05-3336.
• Parties: Patricia A. STEMPLE, Plaintiff, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

475 F.Supp.2d 527

Patricia A. STEMPLE, Plaintiff, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.

Civil No. SKG-05-3336.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

February 26, 2007.

Paul Rodney Schlitz, Jr., Jenkins Block and Associates PC, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiff.

Allen F. Loucks, Office of the United States Attorney, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GAUVEY, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff Patricia Stemple ("plaintiff") filed this action on December 13, 2005 seeking judicial review pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) of the final decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("Commissioner" or "Agency"), denying her claims for Disability Insurance Benefits ("DIB") under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") under Title XI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381-1383(c). The undersigned has this case for all proceedings by consent of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Local Rule 301. (Paper No. 5).

Cross motions for summary judgment are currently pending before this court. (Papers Nos. 18 and 23). No hearing is necessary in this case.¹ Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons stated below, the Court DENIES defendant's motion for summary judgment and GRANTS plaintiff's motion to remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed applications for DIB and SSI payments on April 30, 2004. (R. 69, 73, 190). The Social Security Administration ("SSA" or "Agency") denied both of plaintiff's applications on July 8, 2004, as well as her applications for reconsideration on February 10, 2005. (R. 45, 52, 196). Plaintiff then requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"), which took place on July 13, 2005. (R. 13, 54). On July 29, 2005, the ALJ denied plaintiff's claims. (R. 10). The Agency's Appeals Council denied plaintiff's request for review of the ALJ's decision on October 14, 2005. (R. 5). Plaintiff filed the instant action on December 13, 2005, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) seeking review of the final decision of the Commissioner. (Paper No. 1).

II. Factual Background

Plaintiff was born on November 24, 1947, and was 57 years old when she testified at her July 2005 hearing before the ALJ. (R. 13, 69). At school, she was in a slow learner or special education program, and she began but never completed the tenth grade. (R. 24, 39, 83). She has never attended or completed a GED, job training, or vocational program. (R. 24, 83). In response to questions from her attorney, plaintiff stated that she can read but has difficulty with big words and cannot spell. (R. 41). She further testified that she lived with her husband, and that she measured 5'7"² and weighed between 220 and 230 pounds. (R. 23).

Plaintiff has had jobs in a factory and a nursing home and also worked for a total of about two and a half years in the late 1980's as a housekeeper at a Holiday Inn. (R. 32, 37). For approximately six years, until her alleged onset of disability date of October 10, 2003, she worked at Hazelwood Elementary and Middle School ("school"), a Baltimore City public school. (R. 28, 29, 69). She began as a part-time cafeteria aide, then became a classroom attendant, and finally gained full-time employment pulling and copying records that needed to be sent to other schools. (R. 28-29). This last job required standing for much of the day as well as frequent lifting and carrying of copier paper, up to two packs at a time. (R. 29, 31, 80, 81). On an April 2004 Disability Report-Adult, plaintiff indicated that she would frequently carry less than 10 pounds for a distance of approximately 15 feet. (R. 81). She testified that it was difficult to bend over and pick up the paper; by the time she got home from work, she was in "bad shape" and had to take Tylenol.³ (R. 30-31). She further stated on the April 2004 Disability Report — Adult that numbness in her hands was limiting her ability to work and that her conditions, diabetes mellitus⁴ and hypertension,⁵ caused her pain. (R. 79). Although this pain began in 2000, she continued to work and only stopped working around October 2003 when she was laid off due to the school's lack of funding.⁶ (R. 31, 80).

Plaintiff testified before the AU that she experiences pain just below her belt line and that she especially has trouble bending over and straightening up. (R. 35). She stated that approximately twenty years earlier, a doctor had taken x-rays of her back and told her that she has arthritis in all of her joints. Id. Plaintiff also reported that her feet hurt most of the time. (R. 41). In forms filled out by plaintiff, she has complained of numbness in her hands, back, feet, and legs, the inability to stand or sit for a long period of time, discomfort in her knees, and continual back pain. (R. 50, 93, 101-105). She told the ALJ that she has difficulties sleeping due to discomfort in her feet and legs. (R. 24). When her feet go numb, she cannot tolerate the bedcovers touching them. (R. 41). She does not take sleeping medications but may take a pain pill or a bath to relieve her legs and back. (R. 24). Plaintiff stated that she used to be able to walk two or three blocks but was, at the time of the hearing, only able to walk "a little ways" because of leg and back trouble and in fact had not walked in over two weeks. (R. 25-26).

Plaintiff maintains a driver's license and testified that she had driven in 2005 but had not driven in the weeks prior to her hearing, in part because of her back. (R. 23-24). She reported that she cooks, washes dishes, does laundry, vacuums, and makes the bed. (R. 24, 25, 28, 36). However, with all of these activities, she must periodically stop and sit down before resuming the activity. (R. 24, 25, 28, 36, 88-90). Plaintiff has indicated that when she stands and peels potatoes, the pain in her hands and waist is enough to make her cry, and that when making the bed, her back hurts to a degree that she feels she might fall. (R. 90). She is able to take care of her own personal needs but also finds this difficult because bending cause discomfort in her knees and back. (R. 105).

Other than household chores, plaintiffs main daily activity is watching television, although she does not always remember what she watches. (R. 27, 90-91). She used to sew as a hobby but is no longer able to do so because of trouble with her hands, waist, and eyes, which she has indicated are bad due to her diabetic condition. (R. 90-91). She noted on a report submitted to the Agency that it hurts when she writes. (R. 105). Plaintiff tries to attend church every week but usually only stays for about one and a half hours because she is unable to sit for longer. (R. 27). She speaks every day to relatives and friends on the telephone, and she visits with her sister and four children, however they usually come to see her. (R. 27, 91). Plaintiff testified that, although she is able to attend church and was able to work at the school, she has not been in a grocery store in about thirty years because of a phobia related to being around a lot of people. (R. 25, 28, 39, 40). She is also very uncomfortable riding in an elevator.⁷ (R. 39).

In addition to taking Tylenol for pain, at the time of the July 2005 hearing, plaintiff was taking Novolin N by injection,⁸ Dilantin,⁹ Hyzaar,¹⁰ and Glyburide.¹¹ (R. 35-36). She stated that she is not aware of any medicinal side effects. (R. 36). Other medications plaintiff has taken in the past include Humulin N, Lantus, Altace, Avandia, Actos, and Hydrochlorothiazide.¹² (R. 92, 104, 123, 148).

A. Medical History: Treating Sources

According to plaintiff's medical records, she has primarily received treatment from two physicians for her diabetes and hypertension. From October 1998 through April 2004, plaintiff saw Denis [sic] W. McDonald, M.D. ("Dr.McDonald") at over twenty appointments. (R. 118-139). During this time period, her weight fluctuated between 211 and 257 pounds and averaged approximately 224.5 pounds.¹³ Id. Dr. Mc-Donald's treatment notes reveal that plaintiff's blood sugar or glucose levels varied greatly and were often elevated, as was her blood pressure.¹⁴ Id. As early as February 2000, he recorded that plaintiff was having trouble paying for her required drugs. (R. 134). In June 2003, he noted that her diabetes was uncontrolled, and by April 2004, he felt plaintiff's inability to purchase medication and the supplies needed to test her glucose represented a "serious dilemma." (R. 118, 119, 125, 131).

Throughout the course of his treatment of plaintiff, Dr. McDonald frequently indicated that she was experiencing pain in her back, elbows, shoulders, leg, and foot. (R. 118, 120, 125, 132-134, 139). Plaintiff first complained of numbness in her fingers in June 1999. (R. 137). In June 2003, she told Dr. McDonald she was experiencing foot and leg pain and did not want the bedcovers touching her. (R. 125). By March 2004, Dr. McDonald wrote that plaintiff had been suffering from back pain that worsened upon bending for one to two years, that she had pain from her knees into her legs and feet, and that she had pins and needles in her fingers. (R. 120). He speculated that controlling her glucose levels, which he considered a "major health problem," might help lower her paresthesias¹⁵ and other pain. (R. 121). Dr. Mc-Donald's treatment notes also indicate that he contemplated giving plaintiff a prescription of Neurontin but that she could not afford that medication.¹⁶ (R. 118, 125).

According to plaintiff's hearing testimony, she stopped seeing Dr. McDonald in 2004, because she could no longer afford his services.¹⁷ (R. 33).

In late July 2004, plaintiff began receiving medical treatment at the Baltimore Medical System clinic from Sabapathippillai Kulathungam, M.D. ("Dr.Kula"),¹⁸ whom she estimated she sees every month to once every three...