United States District Court, D. Colorado
ORDER
LEWIS
T. BABCOCK, JUDGE.
Plaintiff,
Michelle Deborah Weisblat-Dane, appeals from the Social
Security Administration (“SSA”)
Commissioner's final decision denying her application for
widow's insurance benefits for a period of disability,
filed pursuant to Title II of the Social Security Act 42
U.S.C. § 401, et. seq., and her application for
supplemental security income, filed pursuant to Title XVI of
the Social Security Act 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et.
seq. Jurisdiction is proper under 42 U.S.C. §
405(g). Oral argument would not materially assist me in the
determination of this appeal. After consideration of the
parties' briefs, as well as the administrative record, I
REVERSE AND REMAND the Commissioner's final order.
I.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Plaintiff
seeks judicial review of the Commissioner's decision
denying her applications for disabled widow's insurance
benefits and for supplemental security income. After these
applications were initially denied on August 14, 2015, an
Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) held an
evidentiary hearing on January 26, 2017 [AR 74-105, 33-73],
and thereafter issued a written ruling dated March 30, 2017.
[AR 9-27] The ALJ denied her applications on the basis that
Plaintiff was not disabled because her assessed residual
functional capacity (“RFC”) did not preclude her
from performing her past work as a bookkeeper (Step Four).
[AR 25] Alternatively, the ALJ found that Plaintiff could
perform work existing in significant numbers in the national
economy considering her age, education, work experience and
assessed RFC (Step Five). [AR 26]
The SSA
Appeals Council subsequently denied Plaintiff's
administrative request for review of the ALJ's
determination, without specific comment, making the SSA
Commissioner's denial final. [AR 1-5] Plaintiff timely
filed her complaint with this court seeking review of the
Commissioner's decision.
II.
FACTS
Plaintiff
was born on December 14, 1963, and she has a least a high
school education. [AR 26, 215, 679] Her prior employment
includes work as a bookkeeper and as a driver. [AR 39-40,
215-16] Plaintiff alleged that she stopped working in
December of 2010 due to her depression, blocked artery,
compressed disc, degenerative disc disease, borderline
personality disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), fibromyalgia, diabetes, pulmonary clogged artery
disease, asthma, osteoarthritis, damaged cartilage, migraine
headaches, and obesity. [AR 214] Plaintiff's alleged
onset date was March 19, 2013 - the date of her last
unsuccessful application for disability insurance benefits.
[AR 12, 77]
The
medical evidence in the record regarding Plaintiff's
physical health is summarized as follows. Prior to her
alleged onset date in March of 2013, Plaintiff went to the
emergency room, on February 29, 2012, reporting back pain.
[AR 427-32] An MRI at that time revealed mild disc
degeneration at ¶ 3-L4, and mild facet hypertrophy,
moderate left and mild right hypertrophic facet
osteoarthritis at ¶ 4-L5, and minimal disc degeneration
with 2 mm left subligamentous disc protrusion and mild
bilateral hypertrophic facet osteoarthritis at ¶ 5-S1.
[AR 435]
During
September of 2012, Plaintiff saw Brenda E. Walker-Conner,
M.D. at Peak Vista Community Health Centers, for shoulder
pain and arthralgia, forearm pain, right knee pain, and lower
back pain. [AR 405-406, 408] An x-ray of Plaintiff's
lumbar spine on September 12, 2012, revealed no significant
abnormalities and an x-ray of the cervical spine revealed
mild cervical spine degenerative changes. [AR 436-37] During
an initial physical therapy evaluation on September 25, 2012,
Plaintiff reported pain, and that she was unable to sit for
longer than two hours without her pain increasing
“dramatically.” [AR 553-55] Dr. Walker-Conner
assessed Plaintiff with degenerative disc disease, and
referred her for a functional capacity evaluation and
aquatherapy, on December 13, 2012. [AR 399-401]
On
February 2, 2013, Plaintiff again visited the emergency room
because of worsening back and hip pain. [AR 545-46] On
February 20, 2013, Plaintiff was evaluated by David Wilber,
MPT, at the Memorial Health Systems Outpatient Rehabilitation
Services. [AR 424-25] Mr. Wilber filled out a Physical
Capacity Evaluation form indicating that Plaintiff could sit
for a maximum of three hours and stand and walk for less than
two hours in an eight-hour workday. [AR 425] He further
indicated that she was unable to lift 5 pounds from the floor
to her waist, but she could carry 5 pounds for ten feet at
waist level. [AR 425] He also noted that Plaintiff needed to
lie down periodically throughout the day due to pain and/or
fatigue. [AR 425]
After
her alleged onset date of March 19, 2013, Plaintiff started
seeing Mark Engelstad, M.D., at Partners In Health Family
Medicine in April of 2013 for acute health care concerns, as
well as her complaints of chronic joint pain, back pain,
body-wide pain, chest pain, headaches, depression, anxiety,
and borderline personality disorder. [AR 613-78, 712-41]
Plaintiff also occasionally sought treatment at the hospital
for acute sinusitis, acute bronchitis, and chronic
gastrointestinal symptoms. [AR 392-95, 771-92]
On
April 17, 2013, Plaintiff underwent an x-ray of her cervical
and thoracic spine, which revealed mild and mild-to moderate
degenerative disc disease. [AR 648, 650-51] On May 3, 2013,
Plaintiff reported to Dr. Engelstad that she was trying to
walk about 5 miles per week. [AR 619] On July 9, 2013, Dr.
Engelstad noted that Plaintiff was exercising
“rigorously” twice weekly, and walking
“intermittently” daily, but in his proposed plan
for Plaintiff's degenerative disc disease he noted
“severe mobility limitations.” [AR 620] In an
office note dated February 21, 2014, Dr. Engelstad listed and
assigned diagnosis codes for Type II diabetes, low back pain,
acute sinusitis, UTI, fibromyalgia, borderline personality
disorder, osteoarthrosis, and edema. [AR 623-624]
On
March 3, 2014, Plaintiff went to the emergency room reporting
joint pain and a painful rash. [AR 485] Thereafter, on March
25, 2014, Plaintiff went to the University of Colorado
Hospital for consultation regarding a possible connective
tissue condition. [AR 470-80] On examination, Matthew Taylor,
M.D., found that Plaintiff's joints looked and felt
normal, had no deformities, no crepitus (catching or
clicking), and no swelling, and that Plaintiff had normal
reflexes and no neurological deficits. [AR 474] Dr. Taylor
indicated that he was “uncertain as to how to best
explain her issues” and stated as follows:
I do not believe she has Ehlers Danlos syndrome or any
hypermobility syndrome. I do not believe she has Marian
syndrome. While fibromyalgia and obesity could contribute to
some joint pain and problems, the degree of problems as well
as the joint dislocations (not demonstrated at the visit, but
apparently recurrent) and the family history of these
...