Source: https://www.philadelphiadisabilityattorney.com/pain-legal/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 04:35:16+00:00

Document:
[a]pplicants for social security benefits who claim to be disabled from working because of extreme pain make the job of a social security administrative law judge a difficult one. Medical science confirms that pain can be severe and disabling even in the absence of “objective” medical findings, that is, test results that demonstrate a physical condition that normally causes pain of the severity claimed by the applicant. E.g., Dennis C. Turk & Akiko Okifuji, Assessment of Patients’ Reporting of Pain: An Integrated Perspective, 353 Lancet 1784 (1999); Paula M. Trief et al., Functional vs. Organic Pain: A Meaningful Distinction? 43 J. Clinical Psych. 219 (1987).
Merely “quoting Polaski is not good enough, especially when an ALJ rejects a claimant’s subjective complaints of pain.” Hall v. Chater, 62 F.3d 220, 223 (8th Cir. 1995). In order to reject a claimant’s complaints, the ALJ must make express credibility findings and provide reasons for discrediting the testimony. Reynolds v. Chater, 82 F.3d 254, 258 (8th Cir. 1996), citing Hall v. Chater, 62 F.3d 220, 223 (8th Cir. 1995). See also Flynn v. Chater, 107 F.3d 617, 621 (8th Cir. 1997) (noting that in applying the Polaski factors, it is “perfectly appropriate for an ALJ to find a claimant’s testimony to be credible, but disagree with the claimant’s ultimate conclusion of disability as derived from that testimony”).
While it is true that 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(5)(A) does not require medical evidence of pain itself, the statute does require “objective medical evidence of an underlying impairment which could cause such pain.” Smalls v. Shalala, 996 F.2d 413, 418 (D.C. Cir. 1993), citing Brown v. Bowen, 794 F.2d 703, 706 n. 4 (D.C. Cir. 1986) (emphasis in original). The Smalls court noted that “it is well within the ALJ’s province to consider whatever medical evidence of pain or other symptoms exists, as well as [the claimant’s] statements and those of her physicians.” Id.The mere fact that working may cause a claimant pain or discomfort does not mandate a finding of disability. Brown v. Bowen, 794 F.2d 703, 707 (D.C. Cir. 1986).

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