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Time and time again, administrative law judges (“ALJs”) invoke the mantra that determining the issue of disability is an issue that is reserved to the Commissioner when deciding Social Security Disability (“SSD”) claims. While that statement is correct, ALJs invariably apply it incorrectly.
It
is true that a treating physician’s legal assertion that a claimant is
disabled is not entitled to any special significance. However, the case
law is clear that the same cannot be said about a treating physician’s
medical assessment of the claimant’s limitations. The case law holds
that a physician’s opinions regarding a claimant’s capacity to sit,
lift, and stand for example, are in no way legal conclusions reserved to
the Commissioner because they are not an opinion on the issue of legal
disability, but on the nature and severity of the claimant’s
impairments.
The
problem is that ALJs invoke their “reserved” mantra as a basis to
reject the limitations of a physician. That is a misapplication of the
law. I received a decision today where the ALJ did just that. However,
as the ALJ still issued a fully favorable decision, it will not need to
be appealed.
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