United States District Court, C.D. California
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
HON.
JAY C. GANDHI UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Reylynd
Hodge (“Plaintiff”) challenges the Social
Security Commissioner's decision denying his application
for disability benefits. Specifically, Plaintiff contends
that the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”)
improperly assessed his credibility. (See Joint
Stip. at 4-12.) The Court addresses Plaintiff's
contention below, and finds that reversal is not warranted.
As a
rule, an ALJ can reject a claimant's subjective
complaints by “expressing clear and convincing reasons
for doing so.” Benton ex rel. Benton v.
Barnhart, 331 F.3d 1030, 1040 (9th Cir. 2003).
“General findings are insufficient; rather, the ALJ
must identify what testimony is not credible and what
evidence undermines a claimant's complaints.”
Brown-Hunter v. Colvin, 806 F.3d 487, 493 (9th Cir.
2015) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
Here,
the ALJ provided at least six valid reasons for finding
Plaintiff “not entirely credible.”
(Administrative Record (“AR”) at 23.)
First,
Plaintiff was inconsistent about his condition.[2] (AR at 20, 23);
see Ghanim v. Colvin, 763 F.3d 1154, 1163 (9th Cir.
2014) (an ALJ may consider a variety of factors in weighing a
claimant's believability, including ordinary techniques
of credibility evaluation, prior inconsistent statements, and
testimony by the claimant that “appears less than
candid”); Thomas v. Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947,
959 (9th Cir. 2002) (inconsistency in claimant's
statements demonstrated lack of candor that supported
ALJ's negative conclusions about claimant's
veracity). Notably, Plaintiff testified at the hearing that
he suffered from back and knee pain for quite some time, and
that this pain affected his ability to walk, sit, bend,
kneel, and climb stairs, but his application, accompanying
disability report, and function report, made no mention of
knee and back pain. (AR at 20, 23, 47-48, 55, 234-42, 255,
276-91.)
Second,
the medical record “fails to reveal that [Plaintiff]
has sought any treatment for complaints of back and knee
pain” and “contains no radiographic evidence of
abnormalities of the knees or back.” (AR at 20, 22, 89,
310-12, 324, 396-97, 430, 449, 479, 492, 501, 508, 511);
see Rollins v. Massanari, 261 F.3d 853, 856-57 (9th
Cir. 2001) (lack of objective evidence, when combined with
other factors, is a valid reason for rejecting a
claimant's testimony); Burch v. Barnhart, 400
F.3d 676, 681 (9th Cir. 2005) (“The ALJ is permitted to
consider lack of treatment in his credibility
determination.”).
Third,
the medical record: (1) showed a lack of mental health
treatment since Plaintiff's application; (2) does not
mention complaints of depression or other mental impairment;
and (3) showed unremarkable examination findings. (AR at 21,
23, 86-88, 279, 281, 404-07); Rollins, 261 F.3d at
856-57; Burch, 400 F.3d at 681.
Fourth,
Plaintiff was not fully compliant with treatment. (AR at 22,
24); see Garcia v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 587 F.
App'x 367, 370 (9th Cir. 2014) (credibility determination
supported by substantial evidence in part because claimant
was uncooperative with medical professionals and unwilling to
comply with prescribed treatment); Molina v. Astrue,
674 F.3d 1104, 1113-14 (9th Cir. 2012) (ALJ did not err by
discounting claimant's testimony based on failure to
follow prescribed treatment). Notably, Plaintiff's
physical therapy was discontinued because of his poor
attendance, and Plaintiff did not comply with the
recommendation to use a sling. (AR at 22, 24, 316, 367.)
Fifth,
Plaintiff's medication treatment dropped from narcotic to
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (“NSAID”), to no
prescribed medication, and Plaintiff did not testify that he
requires the use of any potent medication to control his
symptoms. (AR at 22, 24); see Tommasetti v. Astrue,
533 F.3d 1035, 1040 (9th Cir. 2008) (ALJ properly rejected
claimant's subjective complaints where medical records
showed that she responded favorably to conservative treatment
of physical therapy and medication); Hernandez v.
Astrue, 2012 WL 4466580, at *9 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 26,
2012) (wrist splints worn at night and use of NSAID drugs is
conservative treatment); see also Lindquist v.
Colvin, 588 F. App'x 544, 547 (9th Cir. 2014) (ALJ
properly discounted claimant's testimony in part because
symptoms were controlled by medication).
Sixth,
Plaintiff had significant gaps in treatment. (AR at 24);
see Marsh v. Colvin, 792 F.3d 1170, 1173 n.2 (9th
Cir. 2015) (ALJ properly considered treatment gap in
assessing claimant's credibility); Burch, 400
F.3d at 681 (ALJ properly relied on three- to four- month
treatment gap in partially discrediting claimant's
testimony). Specifically, the ALJ noted that "despite
allegations of debilitating pain, the medical record does not
indicate that [Plaintiff] has sought any type of continuing
treatment in nearly two years" or that "currently,
[he] is under any type of pain management program." (AR
at 22, 24, 41, 48.)
Thus,
the ALJ properly discounted Plaintiff's
credibility.[3]
Based
on the foregoing, IT IS ORDERED THAT judgment shall be
entered AFFIRMING the decision of the Commissioner denying
benefits.
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