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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 16-11472
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 6:15-cv-00020-GJK
JENNIFER GRIMM CHERKAOUI,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant-Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(February 2, 2017)
Before TJOFLAT, MARCUS and WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jennifer Grimm Cherkaoui appeals from the district court’s affirmance of
the Social Security Administration’s (“SSA”) denial of her application for
supplemental security income (“SSI”). On appeal, she argues that: (1) the
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excessive number of medical appointments that she had to attend for the variety of
ailments she had rendered her disabled because she would have to be absent too
frequently to be employable; and (2) the the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”)
failed to assign the proper weight to the medical opinion of her treating physician,
Dr. Tse Lee. After careful review, we affirm.
We review the ALJ’s decision in order to determine whether it is supported
by substantial evidence and whether the ALJ applied proper legal standards.
Crawford v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 363 F.3d 1155, 1158 (11th Cir. 2004).
Substantial evidence is more than a scintilla and is the relevant evidence that a
reasonable person would accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Id. We may
not reweigh the evidence and decide the facts anew and must defer to the ALJ’s
decision if it is supported by substantial evidence even though the evidence may
preponderate against it. Dyer v. Barnhart, 395 F.3d 1206, 1210 (11th Cir. 2005).
Eligibility for SSI requires that the claimant is under a disability. 42 U.S.C.
§ 1382(a)(1), (2). In relevant part, a claimant is disabled if he is unable to engage
in substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable impairment
that can be expected to result in death or that has lasted or can be expected to last
for a continuous period of at least 12 months. 42 U.S.C. § 1382c(a)(3)(A). To
determine whether a claimant is disabled, the SSA applies a five-step sequential
evaluation. 20 C.F.R. § 416.920(a)(4). This process includes an analysis of
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whether the claimant: (1) is unable to engage in substantial gainful activity; (2) has
a severe and medically determinable impairment; (3) has an impairment, or
combination thereof, that meets or equals a Listing, and meets the duration
requirement; (4) can perform her past relevant work, in light of her residual
functional capacity; and (5) can make an adjustment to other work, in light of her
residual functional capacity, age, education, and work experience. Id. The
claimant bears the burden of establishing the existence of a disability. Ellison v.
Barnhart, 355 F.3d 1272, 1276 (11th Cir. 2003).
A residual functional capacity is an assessment of an individual’s ability to
do sustained work-related physical and mental activities in a work setting on a
regular and continuing basis. Social Security Ruling (“SSR”) 96-8p (1996). The
assessment considers only functional limitations and restrictions that result from an
individual’s medically determinable impairment or combination of impairments,
including the impact of any related symptoms. Id. It would be incorrect to
conclude that a claimant has limitations beyond the medically determinable
impairments because of other factors such as age, body build, or habits, or
activities that the individual was accustomed to doing in previous work. Id.
First, we are unpersuaded by Cherkaoui’s argument that the excessive
number of medical appointments she attended rendered her disabled. For starters,
whether the number of medical appointments affects her ability to work is not an
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appropriate consideration for assessing her residual functional capacity because
that determination considers only the functional limitations and restrictions
resulting from medically determinable impairments. See SSR 96-8p. The number
of medical appointments she attended is not a functional limitation caused by her
impairments that would affect her physical or mental capabilities. Moreover,
nothing in the record indicates that Cherkaoui was required, or would be required,
to schedule her medical appointments during working hours so that they would
interfere with her ability to obtain work.
As for the ALJ’s determination that Cherkaoui was capable of sedentary
work, substantial evidence supports it. As the record reveals, the ALJ cited to
medical evidence showing that Cherkaoui’s impairments were either completely
controlled or did not otherwise require limitations beyond those that a sedentary
line of work would provide for. The ALJ determined that Cherkaoui’s subjective
allegations of her symptoms were not fully credible in light of the mostly benign
medical evidence, Cherkaoui’s descriptions of her daily activities, and the fact that
Cherkaoui gave different doctors conflicting information about her symptoms.
Cherkaoui has not challenged any of the ALJ’s determinations that she was
capable of performing sedentary work with her impairments and that her
allegations about the limiting effects of her symptoms were not fully credible.
Neither does she expressly argue that the ALJ erred by failing to consider the
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effect the number of medical appointments had on her ability to obtain
employment. Instead, she asks us to consider the effect of the evidence of her
excessive number of medical appointments on her residual functional capacity.
But that inquiry is beyond the scope of our review since it would require
reweighing the evidence of Cherkaoui’s capabilities for employment. Dyer, 395
F.3d at 1210. Accordingly, we affirm the ALJ’s determination that Cherkaoui had
the residual functional capacity to perform sedentary work.
As for her argument that the ALJ failed to assign the proper weight to the
medical opinion of Dr. Lee, she has abandoned it. An appellant abandons a claim
when she either makes only passing references to it or raises it in a perfunctory
manner without supporting arguments and authority. Sapuppo v. Allstate Floridian
Ins. Co., 739 F.3d 678, 681 (11th Cir. 2014); see also SEC v. Big Apple
Consulting USA, Inc., 783 F.3d 786, 812 (11th Cir. 2015) (“The defendants’
fleeting footnote explaining in one sentence that such evidence ‘could be relevant’
is insufficient to properly assert a claim on appeal.”).
As the record shows, Cherkaoui abandoned her claim that the ALJ failed to
assign a proper weight to Dr. Lee’s opinion. In her brief, the only time Cherkaoi
mentions that the ALJ might have erred in assigning weight to Dr. Lee’s opinion is
in a footnote that says, “As discussed below in Cherkaoui’s second argument, the
ALJ improperly rejected Dr. Lee’s opinions.” However, no second argument is
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made, and Cherkaoui does not cite any law about the proper use of treating
physician opinions nor does she further elaborate on her argument that the ALJ
improperly rejected Dr. Lee’s opinions. As a result, she has abandoned this
argument. See Big Apple Consulting, 783 F.3d at 812; Sapuppo, 739 F.3d at 681.
Accordingly, we affirm the denial of Cherkaoui’s application for supplemental
security income.
AFFIRMED.
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