United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
TRACY A. MILLER, Plaintiff,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant.
OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
[#17] TO GRANT DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
[#15] AND TO DENY PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO REMAND
[#14]
DENISE
PAGE HOOD UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This
matter is before the Court on a Report and Recommendation
(Doc # 17) filed by Honorable Magistrate Judge Patricia T.
Morris to grant the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by
Defendant Commissioner of Social Security
(“Commissioner”) (Doc # 15) and to deny the
Motion to Remand filed by Plaintiff Tracy A. Miller
(“Miller”). (Doc # 14) Miller has timely filed
eight objections to the Report and Recommendation. (Doc # 17)
The Commissioner has filed a response to the objections. (Doc
# 21)
In
January 2015, Miller filed an application for social security
disability benefits. The Administrative Law Judge
(“ALJ”) found that Miller had the following
injuries and conditions: depression; anxiety; post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD); plantar fasciitis of the right and
left heels; tarsal tunnel of the right and left feet; otalgia
of the right ear; glomus tumor with conductive hearing loss
and headaches; tinnitus; obesity; degenerative disc disease
of the lumbar spine with stenosis and radiculopathy; and
lower extremity peripheral neuropathy. Despite Miller’s
various ailments, the ALJ concluded that Miller did not meet
the definition of “disabled” under 42 U.S.C.
§ 423(d)(1)(A). The ALJ primarily based his decision on
the inconsistencies between Miller’s treating physician
and her specialists, as well as his finding that Miller would
be able to engage in some “nonexertional” work.
Miller’s
main arguments against the ALJ’s analysis focused on
the ALJ’s alleged misuse of the term
“disabled” to evaluate her claim; decision to
grant more weight to Miller’s specialists than her
primary physician; disagreements with the mental capacity
findings of the residual functional capacity assessment
(“RFC”); and decisions concerning the weight of
non-medical evidence. The Magistrate Judge noted that the
ALJ’s analysis may have been vague in certain parts,
but the analysis followed proper legal guidelines and any
delineations resulted in harmless error. The Magistrate Judge
further explained that the ALJ gave sufficient reasons for
all his evidentiary decisions regarding the weight given to
both medical and non-medical evidence.
Having
conducted a de novo review of the parts of the
Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation to which
valid objections have been filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
636(b)(1), the Court ACCEPTS and ADOPTS the Report and
Recommendation, GRANTS the Commissioner’s Motion for
Summary Judgment, and DENIES Miller’s Motion to Remand.
The
background procedure and facts of this matter are adequately
set forth in the Magistrate Judge’s Report and
Recommendation, and the Court adopts them here.
I.
ANALYSIS
A.
Standard of Review
The
standard of review by the district court when examining a
Report and Recommendation is set forth in 28 U.S.C. §
636. This Court “shall make a de novo
determination of those portions of the report or the
specified proposed findings or recommendations to which an
objection is made.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). The
court “may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in
part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate
judge.” Id. In order to preserve the right to
appeal the magistrate judge’s recommendation, a party
must file objections to the Report and Recommendation within
fourteen (14) days of service of the Report and
Recommendation. Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(2). Failure to file
specific objections constitutes a waiver of any further right
of appeal. Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 155 (1985);
Howard v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs.,
932 F.2d 505, 508-09 (6th Cir. 1991); United States v.
Walters, 638 F.2d 947, 949-50 (6th Cir. 1981).
B.
Miller’s Objections
1.
First Objection
Miller
first objects to the ALJ’s use of the term
“debilitating” in contrast with the Acting
Commissioner of Social Security’s
(“Commissioner”) use of the term
“disability” in connection with evaluating
whether Miller is disabled. Miller argues that the ALJ used
debilitating as a synonym for “disabling.” The
ALJ uses different standards for rejecting a treating
source’s medical opinion regarding whether one is
“debilitated” or “disabled.” Miller
argues that the use of the word debilitating created a higher
than normal standard to be used to decide whether she meets
the statutory definition of disabled. The Commissioner
responds by stating that Miller’s definition of
debilitating[1] actually created a lower standard than the
Social Security Act’s definition of
disability.[2] [ECF No. 21, Pg.ID 956] Such a lower
standard would have helped Miller. The Commissioner further
argues that while the ALJ may have used debilitating and
disability interchangeably, no error or prejudice from the
ALJ’s use of the term “debilitating”
resulted.
“If
an agency has failed to adhere to its own procedures, a court
will not remand for further administrative proceedings unless
the claimant has been prejudiced on the merits or deprived of
substantial rights because of the agency’s procedural
lapses”. Rabbers v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec.,
582 F.3d 647, 647 (6th Cir. 2009). Miller has not proven any
prejudice or deprivation of substantial rights from the
ALJ’s use of the term “debilitating” in
place of “disability.”
Miller
further claims that the term “debilitating”
tainted the treating source analysis of Dr. Kloska. The ALJ
stated that Dr. Kloska’s opinion was regarded with
little weight overall and given little consideration
regarding the Plaintiff’s condition. [ECF No. 17, Pg.ID
912] Any taint, that resulted from the term debilitating
instead of disabled is harmless, as discussed below with
respect to Miller's second objection.
The
Magistrate Judge correctly determined that, although the
wrong word was used, the ALJ applied the correct standard of
law. The Court affirms the ALJ’s decision and
Miller’s first objection is denied.
2.
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