Walker v. Shalala, 92-3162
| Decision Date | 13 May 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-3162,92-3162 |
| Citation | 993 F.2d 630 |
| Parties | , Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 17246A David O. WALKER, Appellant, v. Donna E. SHALALA, * Secretary of Health and Human Services, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Anthony William Bartels, Jonesboro, AR, argued, for appellant.
Pamela M. Wood, Dallas, TX, argued, for appellee.
Before JOHN R. GIBSON and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges, and STOHR, ** District Judge.
David O. Walker appeals from an order of the magistrate judge 1 granting summary judgment in favor of the Secretary of Health and Human Services ("the Secretary"). Walker argues on appeal that the magistrate judge erred in granting the Secretary's motion and that the Secretary's decision denying his claim for social security disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income benefits was not supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. We affirm.
We will not reverse a denial of disability benefits if the Secretary's decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); Murphy v. Sullivan, 953 F.2d 383, 384 (8th Cir.1992). The primary basis of appellant's disability claim is back problems and pain therefrom. The following evidence was adduced at the hearing before the administrative law judge ("ALJ") on January 9, 1991. Appellant is 62 years old, 5'10" tall and weighs 185 pounds. He last worked in April of 1985, as a ranch laborer. Prior to that he had done light work making picture frames, in a hammermill and as a self-employed saw sharpener. Appellant described constant but variable pain in his back and neck, worse standing than sitting. He takes two to three aspirin three or four times a day. Appellant reported that he is able to wash a few dishes, cook breakfast, and make coffee, but that sometimes during these activities the pain becomes sufficiently severe that he has to lie down. Appellant does not do any housecleaning or yard work, but can carry a little wood in for heat. Appellant testified that he spends most of the day reading. He is able to drive up to approximately 45 miles, and regularly drives a distance of 20 miles. Appellant's wife and a neighbor testified generally that appellant is in constant pain.
The medical evidence indicates appellant has some degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine. Appellant's regular treating practitioner is a chiropractor whom he sees about once a month; the chiropractor's one report indicates that appellant experiences back pain, that his problem "is getting progressively worse," and that appellant receives "regular spinal adjustments ... for relief of symptoms not for correction." The record contains little in the way of doctor's reports. An M.D.'s report dated May 11, 1990 indicates that appellant does not have any significant loss of motion of any joint "except some back LOM," than he can stand intermittently every two hours, that he has no neurological defects, and that he "has spasm present but it is variable day to day." The same doctor's handwritten notes indicate that in March, 1990, after examining appellant, he warned appellant that he was unlikely to be successful in obtaining a determination of disability.
The ALJ denied benefits on the basis of his conclusion that appellant's impairment did not prevent him from engaging in light work (no lifting or carrying in excess of 20 pounds) such as he had performed in the past. The ALJ discredited appellant's subjective complaints of pain based on: (1) a lack of medical evidence supporting the complaints, (2) appellant's failure to seek continued medical treatment for his condition, (3) the fact that appellant controls his symptoms with only aspirin and has not sought stronger prescription pain medication, and (4) appellant's activities, such as cooking, washing dishes, and driving. We hold that there exists substantial evidence to support the ALJ's conclusion that appellant did not meet his burden of demonstrating that his impairment prevented him from performing his past relevant work. In particular, we conclude that the ALJ properly examined Walker's subjective complaints of pain under Polaski v. Heckler, 751 F.2d 943 (8th Cir.1984), and discredited them as inconsistent with the lack of medical evidence generally 2 and with the limited treatment appellant has sought for his problem (no ongoing medical treatment, no prescription pain medication).
Although the appellant's brief enumerates the existence of substantial support for the Secretary's...
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Case survey
...as much evidentiary weight as a medical doctor’s § 203.15 SOCIAL SECURITY ISSUES ANNOTATED report. Id. , citing Walker v. Shalala , 993 F.2d 630, 632 n. 2 (8th Cir. 1993); 20 C.F.R. § 404.1513. However, the court explained: [b]ecause the ALJ indicated that he was considering the chiropracto......
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Issue Topics
...as acceptable medical sources, and their opinions are therefore accorded less weight than those of medical doctors. Walker v. Shalala , 993 F.2d 630, 632 n. 2 (8th Cir. 1993). Although the claimant’s chiropractor opined that the claimant was permanently disabled from his job as a pipefitter......
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Issue topics
...as acceptable medical sources, and their opinions are therefore accorded less weight than those of medical doctors. Walker v. Shalala , 993 F.2d 630, 632 n. 2 (8th Cir. 1993). Although the claimant’s chiropractor opined that the claimant was permanently disabled from his job as a pipefitter......
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Issue topics
...as acceptable medical sources, and their opinions are therefore accorded less weight than those of medical doctors. Walker v. Shalala , 993 F.2d 630, 632 n. 2 (8th Cir. 1993). Although the claimant’s chiropractor opined that the claimant was permanently disabled from his job as a pipefitter......