Opinion
ED CV 21-01870-VBF-SHK
11-10-2022
NIKO NICHELLE HOUSLEY, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendants.
ORDER REVERSING THE COMMISSIONER AND REMANDING FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS
HONORABLE VALERIE BAKER FAIRBANK SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
The Report and Recommendation is hereby ADOPTED.
For the reasons stated in the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, the final decision of the Commissioner is hereby REVERSED and this case shall be REMANDED for further proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). On remand, the ALJ shall:
(1) reevaluate Plaintiff's subjective symptom statements because it is undisputed that the ALJ's rejection of Plaintiff's symptom statements was not supported by substantial evidence in the record;
(2) reevaluate any medical opinions, including Dr. White's opinion, that were rejected for “appearing] to be based mostly on [Plaintiff's] subjective complaints[,]” see, e.g., Tr. 2525, if there is any change in the weight given to
Plaintiff's subjective symptom statements after the aforementioned reevaluation is complete;
(3) ensure that Dr. Townsend's opinions are evaluated in compliance with the Court's instructions when the case was remanded previously, see Tr. 2618-48; and
(4) reevaluate Dr. Pollis's opinions and explain why, apart from wanting to give Plaintiff the benefit of the doubt, the record supports giving Dr. Pollis's opinions little weight.
This appeal shall be closed and terminated.