Timothy Shepherd v. Commissioner of Social Security

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina reviewed Timothy Shepherd’s appeal from the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of disability benefits. The court held that the ALJ inadequately addressed Shepherd’s inability to afford medical treatment when evaluating the consistency of his symptom allegations. The court reversed the Commissioner’s decision and remanded the case for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

Holdings

1. The ALJ imposed an unduly high burden by effectively requiring Shepherd to show that he had exhausted all available resources for treatment before crediting his inability to afford medical care. Because the record did not adequately establish the basis for discounting his symptom testimony, the decision could not be meaningfully reviewed and required remand.
2. The vocational expert's identification of marker, garment sorter, and assembler II jobs did not present an apparent conflict with the limitation to occasional exposure to open machinery because exposure to a ticket-printing machine, an iron, and a drill press could not reasonably be construed as exposure to open machinery.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ALJ improperly discounted Shepherd's subjective symptom testimony based on inconsistent or limited treatment without adequately considering his asserted inability to afford medical care.
2. Whether the inadequate evaluation of Shepherd's symptom testimony required remand because it could affect the RFC assessment and evaluation of medical opinions.
3. Whether the vocational expert's testimony conflicted with the RFC limitation concerning occasional exposure to open machinery.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded