Failure to seek treatment

Ability to Stoop. Medical records showing treatment limited to 10 months is evidence that impairment did not last the required 12 months. RFC limited claimant to four hours of sitting, less than the six hours usually required for sedentary work. This limitation erodes the occupational base more than…

Claimant's failure to seek treatment is not evidence of medical improvement where claimant didn't seek treatment for 2.5 years prior to initial disability finding. Whether claimant continues to meet a listing is not dispositive in determining medical improvement. ALJ erred in finding medical…

Conflicts in evidence are for the Commissioner to resolve. Inference could be drawn that claimant would have secured more treatment if her pain had been as intense as alleged. Court will review ALJ decisions to determine if they are supported by substantial evidence. Court must uphold the…

Fibrositis. Although Appeals Council was uncertain that fibrositis is a recognized disease, it emphasized that the nomenclature used to diagnose a condition is immaterial to a finding of disability. Medical expert's sworn statement that "if claimant has fibrositis" she is disabled, not…

Possibility of mental impairment causing failure to take medication where medical report states that non-compliance "may be inherent to suspicious paranoia." "It could be unfair for the Secretary to refuse to give disability benefits under § 404.1530 if the claimant's mental…

No substantial evidence that hypertension not controlled because of claimant's failure to follow prescribed treatment. Any departure from a grid rule must, at a minimun, be explained. ALJ made factual errors in application of grid. Remanded.

Where claimant does not follow the prescribed medical advice which would remedy or reduce his impairments, such conduct is "arguably inconsistent with his complaints of pain."

Fact that claimant failed to seek medical treatment was arguably inconsistent with his complaint of pain and lent credence to suspicions that he may have been exaggerating. Only when claimant meets his burden to establish that he's unable to return to his former work is there a need for SSA to…