Opinion ID: 791178
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Mulhausen's Testimony

Text: 41 Haynes next argues that the ALJ improperly disregarded Dr. Mulhausen's testimony that Haynes would be required to miss up to three workdays per month due to his pulmonary condition and heel pain. This testimony is important to Haynes, because the vocational expert testified that if a claimant must miss more than two workdays a month, the claimant would be unemployable. Haynes claims there was no evidence in the record to contradict Dr. Mulhausen's conclusion, and therefore the ALJ could not cast aside the physician's opinion and substitute his own layman's opinion. 42 Again we must disagree with Haynes. While it is true that the regulations require an ALJ to consider opinions offered by medical experts, an ALJ is not bound by those opinions and must evaluate them in the context of the expert's medical specialty and expertise, supporting evidence in the record, and other explanations regarding the opinion. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1527(f)(2); 416.927(f)(2). Likewise, the relevant policy statement reinforces the requirement that the ALJ consider the supportability of the opinion, the consistency of the opinion with the record as a whole, including other medical opinions, and any explanation for the opinion provided by the state agency medical or psychological consultant or other program physician or psychologist. SSR 96-6p, 1996 WL 374180, at . 43 In this case, the ALJ concluded that there was no medical evidence in the record to support Dr. Mulhausen's opinion that Haynes would need to miss up to three days per month. Moreover, there was no evidence that Haynes sought any additional medical treatment either for his pulmonary problems or his heel pain in the two years since January 1999. As the ALJ found, this fact was inconsistent with the notion that Haynes may have continued to suffer from serious medical problems. Furthermore, although most of Dr. Mulhausen's opinion regarding Haynes's limitations closely tracked other evidence in the record, no evidence supported his conclusion regarding the three workdays off, nor did he provide any elaboration or explanation for this conclusion. 44 In contrast, ample medical evidence in the record supports the ALJ's conclusion that, after June 1, 1999, Haynes did not require up to three workdays off each month due to his physical impairments. For example, Dr. Gilberg's September 2000 consultative examination indicated that Haynes's heel had exhibited great progress in healing, and Haynes could bear full weight on his limb and walk with only a slight limp. The examination also indicated that Haynes could sit and stand from a chair and could climb on and off an examination table without difficulty. Dr. Gilberg concluded that Haynes would require no time off from work due to his heel. 45 Likewise, with respect to Haynes's pulmonary problems, the record reflects that as of December 1998, Haynes's condition had improved to no more than occasional scattered wheezes with good air exchange. For treatment, physicians only monitored Haynes's inhalant medications and recommended that he undergo various conventional methods of quitting smoking (e.g., nicotine patch). No treating physician recommended that Haynes take days off from work for treatment or rest. 46 The ALJ also extensively cited other factors in the record in support of his finding of not disabled. In particular, the ALJ found Haynes's own testimony regarding his physical condition inconsistent with the record as a whole. For example, Haynes on several recent occasions reported a level of daily activity that was fairly active and that the ALJ found inconsistent with complete disability. As detailed above, the record discloses that Haynes was capable of performing certain activities before and after his one-year period of disability, including hunting, fishing, gardening, shopping, yard- and housework, volunteering, and work related to starting up a woodworking business. In addition, Dr. Gilberg and Dr. Lochmann, doctors who examined or treated Haynes, both provided detailed analysis of Haynes's physical condition and capabilities. Their views are well supported in the record and coincide almost precisely with the ALJ's eventual determination of Haynes's RFC, which Haynes does not challenge. 47 Dr. Mulhausen was not one of Haynes's treating physicians, and the ALJ was entitled to reject Dr. Mulhausen's opinion in favor of other physicians' opinions and evidence in the record—particularly when Dr. Mulhausen's conclusion regarding the three-workday restriction was itself unsupported by any explanation or evidence. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(d)(1) (noting that, generally, more weight is given to examining physicians over nonexamining ones); see also Diaz, 55 F.3d at 306 n. 2 ([I]f conflicting medical evidence is present, the [ALJ] has the responsibility of resolving the conflict.); Luna, 22 F.3d at 690 (concluding that ALJ appropriately discounted conflicting medical report when it lacked minimal detail and was cursory in the extreme). 48 In view of all of these factors, the ALJ did not commit error when he chose not to adopt the portion of Dr. Mulhausen's opinion regarding Haynes's need to miss up to three workdays each month. Moreover, in reaching his decision, the ALJ exhaustively cataloged all of the relevant medical and other evidence, which weighs against Dr. Mulhausen's unsupported opinion. Cf. Books, 91 F.3d at 979-80. In sum, we conclude that ample evidence in the record supports the ALJ's determination that Haynes would not be required to miss up to three workdays a month, and substantial evidence supports the ALJ's finding of not disabled.