Opinion ID: 3173474
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dr. Azimi

Text: The ALJ afforded “significant weight” to Dr. Azimi’s July 2006 RFC assessment that Miller could, among other things, “stand and/or walk for a total of at least two hours in an 8-hour workday, [and] sit for a total of about six hours in an 8-hour workday.” The ALJ found, however, that Miller was more restricted than Dr. Azimi’s assessment indicated with regard to postural limitations—Dr. Azimi found that Miller could “occasionally” climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, and crawl. Dr. Azimi did not examine Miller before completing the RFC assessment. Social Security regulations specify that “[g]enerally,” the ALJ assigns more weight to the opinion of a source who has examined you than to the opinion of a source who has not examined you. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(c)(1). The ALJ clearly did not do so here, when she assigned the most weight—in fact, the only grant of “significant weight”—to an opinion from Dr. Azimi, a nontreating, non-examining state agency medical consultant. To be sure, state agency medical consultants, such as Dr. Azimi, are “highly qualified physicians and psychologists who are experts in the evaluation of the medical issues in disability claims under the [Social Security] No. 15-1405 Miller v. Comm’r of Social Security Page 10 Act.” SSR 96-6p, 1996 WL 374180, at  (July 2, 1996). Thus, under certain circumstances, an ALJ may assign greater weight to a state agency consultant’s opinion than to that of a treating or examining source. See id., at ; see also Blakley, 581 F.3d at 409. Such circumstances include where the non-examining source’s opinion “is based on a review of a complete case record.” SSR 96-6p, 1996 WL 374180, at . However, that is not the case here. Although the Commissioner explains that Dr. Azimi cited Miller’s January 2006 x-ray results and Dr. Ramirez’s 2006 examination findings to support his conclusions, Dr. Azimi’s RFC preceded Miller’s post-2006 treatment and could not account for subsequent assessments. See Blakley, 581 F.3d at 409 (finding that non-examining sources offered their opinions prior to subsequent assessments from treating sources and therefore did not evaluate the complete case record). Where the non-examining source did not review a complete case record, “we require some indication that the ALJ at least considered these facts before giving greater weight to an opinion” from the non-examining source. Id. (quoting Fisk v. Astrue, 253 F. App’x 580, 585 (6th Cir. 2007)). The ALJ gave no such indication here and thus did not provide a sufficient explanation for assigning significant weight to a non-examining source’s opinion. See id.; see also 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(c). Stranger yet, despite the ALJ’s assignment of significant weight to Dr. Azimi’s opinion, the ALJ found that Miller had a residual functional capacity allowing him to “stand up to six hours” in an eight-hour workday—exceeding Dr. Azimi’s assessment that Miller could stand “at least two hours.” In fact, the ALJ’s determination that Miller could stand for six hours was consistent with Dr. Bedia’s opinion, to which the ALJ assigned only limited weight because “the claimant is more restricted.” (emphasis added.) Thus, the ALJ’s determination concerning Miller’s residual functional capacity (particularly his ability to stand) does not comport with her own determination that Dr. Azimi’s assessment should be accorded significant weight.