Report & Recommendation on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgement Federal Magistrate Judge: Frank J. Lynch, Jr. United States District Court: Eleventh Circut, Southern District of Florida
The ALJ stated several reasons for discounting the Plaintiff's credibility, and those reasons are supported by the record evidence. Although Dr. Ellowitz initially diagnosed migratory arthritis, there is no conclusive evidence of such a condition. The doctor's subsequent diagnoses, entered after further study, were of more discrete and site specific defects such as tendinitis or joint derangement. The clearest evidence of an underlying impairment comes from the MRI of the Plaintiff's left knee, but the Plaintiff never followed up on treatment. (Also the Plaintiff's complaints of knee pain alternated between his left and right knees.) Indeed the whole focus of treatment shifted away from joint paint to Hypertension and diabetes. As for the hypertension and diabetes, non-compliance with medication exacerbated those conditions (and related complications), as evinced by the Plaintiff's stabilization in early 2007 after the medications' resumption. While the Plaintiff may have controlled the conditions poorly, there is no evidence showing that they were uncontrollable, an important distinction. Moreover there is no evidence of an obstacle to treatment compliance such as the inability to afford necessary medication.
Another key facet of the ALJ's credibility analysis was the report of the consultative examiner, Dr. Almahameed, regarding the Plaintiff's physical abilities. The doctor observed the Plaintiff to have a substantially wide range of functional ability such as normal ambulation and movement. Consequently the record evidence that existed at the time of the hearing supports the ALJ's decision to discount the Plaintiff's disability allegations.
The next step in the SSA analysis was to assess the extent to which the Plaintiff's medical impairments, including pain, do limit his ability to work. For example the one DDS medical advisor rated the Plaintiff capable of light work with the additional limitation of postural activities on only an occasional basis. The ALJ referenced, albeit inaccurately, the advisory opinions of a full range of light work, but he premised the RFC assessment on the second consultative report, the one prepared by Dr. Rabinowitz. Dr. Rabinowitz essentially found the Plaintiff capable of medium exertional work with the additional limitation of climbing stairs, ladders, etc., on only an occasional basis.
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