Court Opinion

ID: 2964949
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:33:19.447055+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:43:03.981044
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                 ____________________

        No. 97-1188

                                    ANA H. ROSADO,

                                Plaintiff, Appellant,

                                          v.

                       SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,

                                 Defendant, Appellee.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

                   [Hon. Salvador E. Casellas, U.S. District Judge]

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
                                           ___________
                           Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
                                            ______________

                                 ____________________

            Melba N. Rivera-Camacho & Assocs. on brief for appellant.
            _________________________________
            Guillermo  Gill, United  States Attorney,  Edna  C. Rosario-Munoz,
            _______________                            ______________________
        Assistant  United States  Attorney,  and  Wayne  G.  Lewis,  Assistant
                                                  ________________
        Regional  Counsel,  Office  of the  Chief  Counsel,  Region  I, Social
        Security Administration, on brief for appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                   October 10, 1997
                                 ____________________

                 Per Curiam.  This is an appeal from the denial of social
                 __________

            security  disability  benefits.    Appellant  Ana  H.  Rosado

            ("Rosado")  claims she  is disabled due  to a  combination of

            back problems and depression.

                 A mental residual functional capacity ("RFC") assessment

            was  required in this case,  since it was determined Rosado's

            mental   impairment  was   "severe."     See   20  C.F.R.    
                                                     ___

            404.1520a(c)(3).    The  RFC  assessment  needed  to  address

            Rosado's  abilities to 1) understand, remember, and carry out

            instructions,  and 2)  respond appropriately  to supervision,

            co-workers, and work pressures in  a work setting.  20 C.F.R.

              404.1545(c).   While two of  the non-examining doctors  did

            address the first concern, they did not sufficiently speak to

            the second  concern.   The  ALJ,  as a  lay person,  was  not

            qualified  to interpret  the  raw  medical  data  and  assess

            claimant's mental RFC.  Rosado v. Secretary of Health & Human
                                    _____________________________________

            Servs., 807  F.2d 292, 293  (1st Cir. 1986).   On remand, the
            ______

            ALJ shall obtain  expert medical assistance to  interpret the

            raw medical data regarding Rosado's mental condition in 19931
                                                                        1

                                
            ____________________

               1Since the record shows Rosado lost a young son in an auto
               1
            accident in late 1992 or early 1993, it would  not be correct
            to disregard, without explanation, the 1993 evidence and base
            findings on the pre-1993 evidence  alone.  Prior to her son's
            death,  most of the evidence showed Rosado's mental condition
            was "good"  or "fair."   After she  lost her son,  though, it
            does  appear  from   the  records  of  all   three  examining
            physicians that her  mental condition may have  deteriorated.
            On remand,  the ALJ should  analyze the evidence in  light of
            this  fact.    The  ALJ  should  also  ensure  that  the  RFC
            assessment incorporates this information.

                                         -2-

            and  to explain how her mental condition affected her ability

            to function in  the workplace.  See 20  C.F.R.   404.1545(c).
                                            ___

            Only  then  can  a  vocational  expert   competently  testify

            regarding  whether work existed in the national economy which

            Rosado  could perform despite the limitations  set out by the

            medical expert.

                 We have  examined Rosado's argument regarding  the ALJ's

            findings on  her subjective  complaints of pain.   We  see no

            reason to disturb those  findings, as they were  supported by

            substantial evidence.

                 Reversed and remanded on the mental impairment issue.
                 _____________________

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