The ALJ's selective reading of the opinion from Dr. Kumar does not support the determination that Plaintiff is able to perform full time work. See, e.g., Carpenter v. Astrue, 537 F.3d 1264, 1265 (10th Cir. 2008) (the ALJ may not "pick and choose ... using portions of evidence favorable to his position while ignoring other evidence"); Forman v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin, 2019 WL 5388038 (D. Az. Oct. 22, 2019) (observing that an ALJ is required to read records "in their proper context"); Wick v. Astrue, 2009 WL 2393106 (D. Or. July 31, 2019) (finding that an ALJ erred by omitting a physician's discussion of the claimant's condition and overall prognosis, because it resulted in "a selective reading of the record"). 2. Opinion of Dr. Ramu Thiagarajan
The ALJ quoted the first half of this sentence in her written decision but omitted the second half of the sentence, engaging in the sort of "cherrypicking" that has repeatedly been found to fall short of the Commissioner's obligations.Forman v. Comm'r ofSoc. Sec. Admin., No. CV-18-03202-PHX-DJH, 2019 WL 5388038, at *4 (D. Ariz. Oct. 22, 2019) (holding that "selective reading and characterization of the medical records by the ALJ was error" because "[t]he ALJ was required, but failed, to read the medical records in their entirety and in their proper context," and citing Ghanim v. Colvin, 763 F.3d 1154, 1161-62 (9th Cir. 2014) (stating that a treating physician's opinion may be rejected if contradicted by substantial evidence in the record, but scattered instances of partial or temporary improvement do not constitute such substantial evidence)); see also Garrison v. Colvin, 759 F.3d at 1018 ("Rather than describe Garrison's symptoms, course of treatment, and bouts of remission, and thereby chart a course of improvement, the ALJ improperly singled out a few periods of temporary well-being from a sustained period of impairment and relied on those instances to discredit Garrison."); Brown v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin., No. CV-18-00620-TUC-MSA, 2020 WL 525680, at *5 (D. Ariz. Feb. 3, 2020) (reversing decision of the Commissioner