Court Opinion

ID: 9466066
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:04:43.554342+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:31.788819
License: Public Domain

HAYNSWORTH, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
In this Social Security case, there is evidence in the record of ventilatory impairment. It was not considered by the administrative law judge or the Appeals Council. It should have received consideration at each stage. Thus I agree that the denial of benefits without such consideration cannot be affirmed.
I believe, however, that on this record we do not have the power to find the facts essential to the award of benefits under the Social Security Act. There is evidence in the record of an impairment, but no finding that one exists. More crucially, there is no finding that the impairment, if it does exist, is disabling. Under the Social Security Act, there is no presumption of disability from the presence of such an impairment, even if it were determined that the claimant had mild pneumoconiosis.
The Secretary found the claimant could engage in gainful employment. The finding is imperfect because of the failure to consider the breathing problem. We should require the fact finder to reconsider the claim, taking into account all of the health problems, including that with the lung, but the ultimate question of disability is one of fact which should be left to the fact finder.