Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO.: 16-00184-BAJ-EWD
09-20-2017
SCOTT COLLUMS v. CAROLYN W. COLVIN, ACTING COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
RULING AND ORDER
Danny L. Collums brought this action on behalf of his deceased son, Plaintiff Scott Collums, to seek judicial review, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), of the final decision of Defendant Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("Commissioner"), denying Plaintiff's application for Title II disability insurance. Plaintiff asserts that the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") failed to (1) consider fully the results of a neuropsychological evaluation that was conducted on him and (2) analyze appropriately medical evidence concerning his alleged concentration impairment.
The Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation, recommending that the decision of the Commissioner denying Plaintiff's application for disability insurance benefits be affirmed and that this action be dismissed with prejudice. (See Doc. 13). Specifically, the Magistrate Judge found that substantial evidence supports (1) the ALJ's decision not to include - in the residual functional capacity determination - any alleged limitations on Plaintiff's ability to concentrate that are caused by his alleged chronic back pain and (2) the limited weight that the ALJ accorded the opinion of Dr. Wm. Drew Gouvier, the practitioner who conducted the neuropsychological evaluation of Plaintiff. (See id. at pp. 8-33).
Plaintiff failed to file timely objections to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1).
Having carefully considered the administrative record, the applicable law, Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support (Doc. 10), Defendant's Opposition Memorandum (Doc. 12), the Magistrate Judge's Report, and Plaintiff's failure to object to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendations, the Court APPROVES the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 13) and ADOPTS the Report as the Court's opinion herein.
For the reasons explained in the Magistrate Judge's Report,
IT IS ORDERED that the final decision of the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Carolyn W. Colvin, denying the application for disability insurance benefits filed by Plaintiff, Scott Collums, is AFFIRMED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this 20th day of September, 2017.
/s/ _________
BRIAN A. JACKSON, CHIEF JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA