Pusey v. Astrue
Feb 14, 2011OUTCOME: Ms. Pusey was awarded Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Ms. Pusey applied for Social Security Disability benefits alleging disability due to pain from severe degenerative joint disease. Ms. Pusey appealed her case to a hearing before an Administrative Law ... Judge (ALJ) on her claim for disability benefits. The ALJ denied Ms. Pusey's claim finding that Ms. Pusey was not credible and gave several reasons for rejecting the opinion of the treating physician. Ms. Pate appealed the ALJ's denial to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. The Court agreed with Ms. Pate's arguments and found that the ALJ’s analysis regarding credibility was circular and rejected all of the ALJ’s reasons for giving little weight to the treating physician’s opinion. The court remanded the case with instructions to the ALJ to properly evaluate the opinion and provide sufficient reasons for the weight given. Ms. Pate represented Ms. Pusey in her remand hearing before a different ALJ who awarded Ms. Pusey benefits.