Phyllis Parsons v. Michael Astrue

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-1611

PHYLLIS DIANE PARSONS,

Plaintiff – Appellant,

MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security,

Defendant – Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Charleston. Mary E. Stanley,
Magistrate Judge. (2:10-cv-00151)

Submitted: August 30, 2012 Decided: October 11, 2012

Before SHEDD and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and Timothy M. CAIN,
United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina,
sitting by designation.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Carter Zerbe, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant. Eric P.
Kressman, Regional Chief Counsel, Region III, Victor Pane,
Supervisory Attorney, Jordana Cooper, Special Assistant United
States Attorney, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Office of the
General Counsel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:

Phyllis Diane Parsons filed for Social Security

disability benefits on August 18, 2006, noting an onset date of

March 1, 2005. Parsons claimed the following ailments in

support of her disability claim: neuropathy, carpal tunnel,

rheumatoid arthritis, bulging disc, arthritis in lower back,

anemia, anxiety attacks, and acid reflux. Parsons later amended

her claim to add the following ailments: pain in back and hands,

depression, tendonitis in knees and feet, mood swings, lack of

libido, bad memory, and fibromyalgia.

After her initial claim was denied, Parsons requested

a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Following

the hearing, the ALJ denied Parsons’ claim, concluding that she

suffered from several severe impairments, including “chronic

arthralgias, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine,

carpal tunnel syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, and obesity,”

(A.R. 12), but that she was not disabled because she retained

the residual function capacity to perform a range of light work.

In reaching this conclusion, the ALJ rejected testimony from

Parsons’ treating physicians as “inconsistent with the treatment

record and the objective evidence of record,” and also found

that Parsons’ testimony regarding her subjective pain lacked

credibility. (A.R. 21). Parsons appealed to the Appeals

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Council of the Social Security Administration, which denied the

appeal.

With her administrative route concluded, Parsons filed

a civil action in federal district court in February 2010. The

parties consented to proceeding before a magistrate judge, and

on March 11, 2011, the magistrate judge upheld the ALJ’s

decision. The magistrate judge concluded that the ALJ correctly

rejected the testimony from the two treating physicians and that

the ALJ’s decision was supported by substantial evidence.

Parsons filed a timely appeal of the magistrate’s order.

Our review of the ALJ’s decision in an action

involving disability benefits is circumscribed, and we must

uphold the ALJ’s factual findings if they are supported by

substantial evidence and reached by applying the correct legal

standard. Hancock v. Astrue, 667 F.3d 470, 472 (4th Cir. 2012).

Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable

mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.”

Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401 (1971). It “consists

of more than a mere scintilla of evidence but may be less than a

preponderance.” Smith v. Chater, 99 F.3d 635, 638 (4th Cir.

1996). “In reviewing for substantial evidence, we do not

undertake to re-weigh conflicting evidence, make credibility

determinations, or substitute our judgment for that of the

[ALJ].” Craig v. Chater, 76 F.3d 585, 589 (4th Cir. 1996).

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“‘Where conflicting evidence allows reasonable minds to differ

as to whether a claimant is disabled, the responsibility for

that decision falls on the [ALJ].’” Id. (quoting Walker v.

Bowen, 834 F.2d 635, 640 (7th Cir. 1987)).

On appeal, Parsons contends that the ALJ failed to

properly understand her fibromyalgia and that substantial

evidence does not support the ALJ’s decision because the ALJ

incorrectly rejected her treating physicians’ opinions, found

her mental impairments to be non-severe, and found her testimony

not credible. Having reviewed the parties’ submissions, the

decision of the magistrate judge, and the applicable law, we

affirm substantially on the reasoning of the magistrate judge’s

thorough order. See Parsons v. Astrue, No. 2:10-CV-00151, 2011

WL 1234464 (S.D. W.Va. March 30, 2011). We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately

presented in the materials before us and oral argument would not

aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED