United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
Stephanie Dawkins Davis Magistrate Judge
OPINION AND ORDER OVERRULING PLAINTIFF’S
OBJECTIONS TO THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION [17], GRANTING
COMMISSIONER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [14], AND
DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
[13]
LAURIE
J. MICHELSON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
In 2016
and 2017, perhaps earlier, Mabel Abraham suffered from a
slipped vertebra in her lumbar spine and carpal-tunnel
syndrome. These and other medical conditions made it hard for
Abraham to work full time. So she applied for disability
benefits from the Social Security Administration. The
Commissioner of Social Security denied Abraham’s
application, finding that she was not disabled as that term
is used in the Social Security Act. Abraham then filed this
lawsuit, challenging the Commissioner’s disability
determination. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis, to
whom all pretrial matters were referred, recommends affirming
the Commissioner’s decision. Abraham objects to that
recommendation. As will be explained, the Court will overrule
Abraham’s objection and accept the Magistrate
Judge’s recommendation to affirm the
Commissioner’s disability determination.
I.
A.
Abraham’s
low-back issues and carpal-tunnel syndrome are the primary
reasons she sought disability insurance benefits.
In late
2015 and early 2016, imaging studies revealed issues in
Abraham’s lumbar spine. An X-ray showed grade 1
spondylolisthesis at the L4 and L5 vertebrae (i.e., a
minimally-slipped vertebrae) and an MRI showed “severe
spinal stenosis and crowding of the cauda equina nerve
roots” at ¶ 4/L5 (i.e., crowding or pinching of
the nerves that branch off the spinal cord). (PageID.370,
445.)[1] In January 2017, an electromyography (EMG)
study revealed “evidence of bilateral L5-S1
radiculopathy” (i.e., pinching of a nerve root); the
study did not, however, reveal any “peripheral
neuropathy” (i.e., symptoms due to nerve damage in the
extremities). At a post-EMG follow-up exam, a physician
noted, “Patient reports tightness in her back that
radiates into her buttocks and into her legs bilaterally for
the past 1.5 years. She states it is getting worse. She
states walking makes the pain worse. She denies anything that
makes it better.” (PageID.472.) But Abraham had not yet
tried physical therapy or injections. (PageID.534.)
In
2017, Abraham regularly saw Dr. Bassam Thwainey, a family
medicine practitioner, and received four epidural steroid
injections in her lower spine. Dr. Thwainey’s treatment
notes reflect that during most (if not all) office visits,
Abraham’s lower spine was painful and that she had a
reduced range of motion. (PageID.563, 567, 571, 674, 678,
684, 688.) Dr. Thwainey typically prescribed Norco for pain
and Flexeril as a muscle relaxant; at one point, Dr. Thwainey
planned for a specialist to evaluate marijuana for
Abraham’s pain. (PageID.563, 567, 571, 674, 678, 684,
688.) As for the epidural steroid injections, they provided
varying degrees of relief. The first injection only relieved
pain for about a week. (PageID.753.) But the second gave
Abraham relief for about one-and-half months and, during that
time, “[s]he was more active and able to do her
cleaning stuff.” (PageID.597.) Ultimately,
Abraham’s pain returned to the nine-out-of-ten level,
so injections continued at approximately 90-day intervals.
(PageID.66, 600, 641, 629.) Abraham also sometimes used a
cane to walk in 2017. (See, e.g., PageID.470, 632.)
In August 2017, Dr. Thwainey completed a medical source
statement indicating that during an eight-hour workday,
Abraham could only sit for one hour, stand for one hour, and
walk for one hour (apparently, he thought Abraham would need
to lie down the other five hours). (PageID.545.)
In
August 2017, Abraham began seeing Dr. Samson Samuel for
carpal-tunnel syndrome in both wrists. (PageID.750, 753.) In
October 2017, Dr. Samuel gave Abraham a steroid injection in
her right wrist. (PageID.760.) At her January 2018 disability
hearing, Abraham testified that carpal-tunnel release surgery
was scheduled for later that week. (PageID.65–66.)
B.
With
that summary of Abraham’s medical history in place, the
Court briefly summarizes the procedural history of this case.
In
2016, Abraham filed an application for disability benefits
from the Social Security Administration alleging that she
became unable to work in April 2016.
In
time, an Administrative Law Judge, acting on behalf of the
Commissioner of Social Security, reviewed Abraham’s
medical records and listened to testimony about her
impairments. In February 2018, the ALJ rendered a decision as
to Abraham’s ability to work full time. In so doing,
the ALJ found that the opinion of Abraham’s
primary-care physician, Dr. Thwainey, was only entitled to
“partial weight.” (PageID.50.) The ALJ thought
that Dr. Thwainey’s opinions about how long Abraham
could sit, stand, and walk during a workday were “not
consistent” with Abraham’s treatment records.
(Id.) And perhaps referring to Dr. Thwainey’s
opinion that Abraham required a cane to walk, the ALJ stated,
“treatment notes often indicated the claimant had a
normal gait without the use of an assistive device.”
(Id.) The ALJ ultimately found that Abraham was not
“disabled” as that term is used in the Social
Security Act. (PageID.53.)
After
further administrative proceedings proved unsuccessful,
Abraham filed a complaint in federal court. In time, Abraham
and the Commissioner each filed a motion for summary
judgment. In her summary-judgment brief, Abraham argued that
the ALJ did not properly comply with the treating-source rule
in assigning Dr. Thwainey’s opinion only “partial
weight.” (ECF No. 13, PageID.791–792.) (As will
be discussed, it is not clear whether Abraham meant that the
ALJ did not comply with the substantive prong or did not
comply with the ...