IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

PAMELA C. BAIR, )

)

Plaintiff, )

) Civil Action No. 09-05 Erie

v. )

)

MICHAEL J. ASTURE, )

Commissioner of Social Security, )

)

Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM ORDER

Plaintiff’s social security complaint was received by the Clerk of Court on January

12, 2009, and was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter

for report and recommendation in accordance with the Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. §

636(b)(1), and Rules 72.1.3 and 72.1.4 of the Local Rules for Magistrates. 

The Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation [Doc. No. 20], filed on July

23, 2010, recommended that Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 16] be

granted insofar as it requests a remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with the

report and recommendation, and that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc.

No. 18] be denied. It was further recommended that the Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand

[Doc. No. 12] be denied as moot. The parties were allowed fourteen (14) days from the

date of service to file objections. No objections were filed. 

After de novo review of the documents in the case, together with the Report and

Recommendation, I agree that the case should be remanded to the Commissioner for

further proceedings. I write separately however, to address the Magistrate Judge’s

conclusion regarding the weight accorded to the two state agency assessments in

fashioning the Plaintiff’s residual functional capacity. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge

found that:

... [T]he ALJ assigned “significant weight” to the two state

agency assessments that Plaintiff could perform light work. 

Individuals whose opinions are considered “acceptable

medical sources” and entitled to substantial weight in certain

circumstances include licensed physicians or psychologists

and are the only sources whose opinions can establish a

medically determinable impairment. Social Security Ruling

Case 1:09-cv-00005-SJM-SPB Document 21 Filed 08/13/10 Page 1 of 3
(“SSR”) 06-03p, 2006 WL 2329939 at *1-2 (S.S.A. 2006). 

Neither Ms. Clover nor Ms. Coscoran were acceptable

medical sources under the regulations and only qualify as an

“other source” under 20 C.F.R. § 404.1513 (d)(1).

Report and Recommendation p. 14. 

I write to clarify that a review of the administrative record suggests that the

residual functional capacity assessments were completed by state agency physicians.

Although the reports do not reflect a medical source code next to the electronic

signature, the record indicates that both forms were completed by a “DDS physician.” 

(AR 2; 271-277; 323-329). I therefore find the Magistrate Judge’s factual finding not

well founded in this regard. Moreover even if it were, an ALJ is not necessarily

precluded from according significant weight to a state agency evaluator’s opinion. See

Pollace v. Astrue, 2008 WL 370590 at *5-6 (E.D.Pa. 2008) (rejecting claimant’s

argument that the ALJ erred in giving considerable weight to a state agency

adjudicator’s opinion because he was not an “acceptable medical source”). “Each case

must be adjudicated on its own merits based on a consideration of the probative value

of the opinions and a weighing of all the evidence in the particular case.” Social

Security Ruling 06-03p, 2006 WL 2329939 at *5 (S.S.A. 2006). 

AND NOW, this 13 day of August, 2010; th

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc.

No. 16] is GRANTED insofar as it requests a remand for further proceedings, and

Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 18] is DENIED; the case is

hereby REMANDED to the Commissioner for further proceedings. IT IS FURTHER

ORDERED that the Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand [Doc. No. 12] is DENIED as moot.

The Report and Recommendation [Doc. No. 20] of Magistrate Judge Baxter, filed

on July 23, 2010, is adopted as supplemented herein as the opinion of the Court. 

 s/ Sean J. McLaughlin

United States District Judge

2

Case 1:09-cv-00005-SJM-SPB Document 21 Filed 08/13/10 Page 2 of 3
cm: All parties of record

Susan Paradise Baxter, U.S. Magistrate Judge

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Case 1:09-cv-00005-SJM-SPB Document 21 Filed 08/13/10 Page 3 of 3