Opinion ID: 1362562
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence To Be Considered When Determining Harmlessness

Text: As a final note, counsel for plaintiff made an argument during oral argument regarding harmlessness under Wilson that we believe should be addressed. Wilson requires reversal when a treating physician's opinion was ignored and no reasons for doing so were provided. Wilson, 378 F.3d at 546. That is not the case we have here, as we found that Dr. Naum's opinion was not ignored and good reasons were provided to the extent that his opinion was rejected. If this were not the case, however, Wilson 's next inquiry is whether or not such procedural failure was harmless, and if harmless the ALJ should be affirmed. See id. at 547; see also Bowen v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 478 F.3d 742, 747-49 (6th Cir.2007); Smith, 482 F.3d at 877; Nelson v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 195 Fed.Appx. 462, 470 (6th Cir.2006) (unpublished); Daniels, 152 Fed.Appx. at 491; Hall v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 148 Fed.Appx. 456, 464-65 (6th Cir.2005); Heston, 245 F.3d at 535. Plaintiff argued that the new evidence he presented to us, while unable to be considered in substantial evidence review itself, could be considered to determine the harmfulness of the ALJ's procedural error. This argument is completely without basis in law, and plaintiff pointed to no authority for this proposition. Only evidence in the record below can be considered when determining whether or not the ALJ's opinion was supported by substantial evidence, which includes the harmfulness in ignoring a treating physician's opinion. See Cline v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 96 F.3d 146, 148 (6th Cir.1996) ([W]here the Appeals Council considers new evidence but declines to review a claimant's application for disability insurance benefits on the merits, the district court cannot consider that new evidence in deciding whether to uphold, modify, or reverse the ALJ's decision.). There is no backdoor route to get new evidence considered for the first time at the court of appeals level; the only method to have new evidence considered is to ask for a sentence six remand under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), a claim which is analyzed below.