Opinion ID: 3134207
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Restrictions on Standing and Walking

Text: The ALJ determined Ms. Hays had the RFC to perform light work with the limitations quoted above, none of which directly pertains to standing or walking. In doing so, the ALJ did not adequately assess Dr. Amin’s report and its standing and walking restrictions. An ALJ must “give consideration to all the medical opinions in the record.” Keyes-Zachary, 695 F.3d at 1161. Further, the ALJ must discuss the weight being given to the opinions, though the need for express analysis is less where the opinions are not inconsistent with each other or the ALJ’s RFC determination. Id. at 1161-62. Here, the ALJ mentioned Dr. Amin’s report only in connection with Ms. Hays’s upper right extremity, with no discussion of the weight being given to it. The ALJ did not even mention or weigh Dr. Amin’s report as it related to her knee or her ability to stand and walk. Since the report as it relates to Ms. Hays’s ability to stand and walk is consistent with neither the ALJ’s RFC determination nor the hypothetical posed to the vocational expert in formulating the determination, the failure to consider and weigh it was error. The district court concluded that the ALJ did not err by failing to weigh Dr. Amin’s opinion because it was consistent with other medical opinions in the record. The report is consistent with some of the other evidence in the record that the ALJ found persuasive, most notably the report of Robert E. Tuchler, M.D., the independent medical examiner. But neither Dr. Tuchler’s report nor the ALJ’s RFC determination addresses knee problems or restrictions on standing and walking. The 6 Commissioner argues on appeal that the RFC determination can be reconciled with Dr. Amin’s report because by checking boxes for four hours of both standing and walking, Dr. Amin meant she could do four hours of each activity in an eight-hour workday. However, we decline to interpret the report in such a manner for several reasons. First, in the narrative section of the report, Dr. Amin restricts Ms. Hays to four hours of standing but makes no mention of additional time for walking. Second, this interpretation would still leave an inconsistency with the hypothetical posed to the vocational expert, which contemplated up to six hours of either standing or walking, without placing a four-hour limit on either activity. Moreover, such an interpretation would create redundancy within the form itself. Because the ALJ’s decision does not adequately address the standing and walking restrictions in Dr. Amin’s report, a remand for clarification on this issue is required.