__________________ Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break into pieces. | Etienne de la Boetie
Chan- No offense meant, but how can you write decisions for adminstrative law judges given the way you write here?
Do you write things about the party's inability to read and wicked depraved hearts OR are you so tired of being careful with your words on the job that you let it all hang out here?
Very curious... cause I have yet to read something from a judge that comes close to the kind of writing seen in your posts. What gives?
Yes, you did mean offense, otherwise you wouldn't have asked the question!
There's a difference (as you should know) between writing posts in a forum(which is more comparable to conversation) and other kinds of writing. Of course, certain people here on AFF have this tendency to read into what other people write instead of taking what they write to mean exactly and only what's written.
Here's a sample of what I write (the names intentionally left out) - this was from a decision recently upheld by the U. S. District Court for the Western District of New York (meaning the Court agreed with the judge):
The value of a treating physician’s opinion lies in its objectivity as distinguished from the claimant’s own subjective self-report (20 CFR 404.1529). In this case, Dr. **** apparently never saw or treated the claimant and the treating nurse practitioner based her opinions upon the claimant’s own subjective, self-reported limitations. Therefore, these opinions are not accorded controlling or extra weight. Further, they are not consistent with or supported by the great weight of objective evidence that is to the contrary. The only other opinion of disability is from physician’s assistant *************, dated September 8, 2004. In that opinion he indicated the claimant “is unable to work because of his chronic disability.” This opinion is, at best, uninformative, and is contradicted by his supervising physician Dr. ******* (Exhibit 16F, pages 3-4).
The greater weight of objective evidence supports a finding of mild, partial disability as discussed in the prior decision concerning the evidence at Exhibits 2F-7F. Initially, an MRI in August 2000 indicated only mild degenerative narrowing with a small central extrusion (Exhibit 5F, page 13) but no facet pain, a normal neurological examination, and negative straight leg raising on examination.
The claimant displayed poor effort and symptom exaggeration in a January 2001 functional capacity evaluation and, even then, was found to have a capacity for sedentary to light work (Exhibit 2F).
The claimant’s pain management specialist suggested a residual functional capacity for less than sedentary work during a series of three epidural injections from May 2001 to August 2001 (Exhibit 5F). However, there is no evidence of any follow-up. The physical therapist, on the other hand, reported in October 2001 that the claimant’s symptoms had improved (Exhibit 2F).
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. ****** also noted the MRI of August 2000 as showing L4-L5 degenerative disc disease with only mild neural compression. Dr. ******’s treatment notes for the period June 2000 through December 2003 initially indicated a moderate to marked partial disability; but over time this improved to a mild to moderate partial disability that was stable in August 2002 and permanent by December 2003 (Exhibit 3F). A September 2004 report based on a clinical examination demonstrated “no acute distress; he has full flexion, extension, and lateral bending. There is some mild pain with bending to the left. [He is] neurologically intact [in the] upper and lower extremities. He ambulates with [a] normal gait. He has tenderness over the SI joint bilaterally and positive Patrick’s test bilaterally” (Exhibit 16F).
Workers’ Compensation independent medical examiner Dr. **** performed detailed examinations of the claimant. His findings indicate mild partial disability in June 2000 (Exhibit 4F) and moderate partial disability with some permanency in October 2001 (Exhibit 6F). At that time, he reported lifting and carrying limitations not to exceed 25 pounds, noting the claimant engaged in routine child care, including the feeding and changing of an infant.
Dr. **********, also an orthopedic surgeon, examined the claimant on April 16, 2004, noting a normal gait, heel and toe walking without difficulty, full lumbosacral spine range of motion with tenderness and pain on extension and straight leg raising. His conclusion was also a mild to moderate partial disability (Exhibit 16F, pages 5-6).
Dr. ************* examined the claimant at the request of the Administration in April 2002. He noted full range of motion throughout with only mild left sciatica. He found the claimant had only mild limitations in bending and lifting (Exhibit 7F).
__________________ Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break into pieces. | Etienne de la Boetie
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