Opinion
CIVIL ACTION No. 02-2488-CM
March 25, 2004
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
On July 3, 2003, plaintiff filed a Motion for Judgment (Doc. 12) seeking judicial review of the Commissioner of Social Security's decision to deny plaintiff's claims for a period of disability, disability insurance benefits, and supplemental security income (SSI) under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. By minute order dated July 22, 2003, this court referred plaintiff's motion to United States Magistrate Judge David J. Waxse for report and recommendation. Judge Waxse recommended that the court affirm the Administrative Law Judge's (the ALJ) decision to deny plaintiff's claims for a period of disability, disability insurance benefits, and SSI. Plaintiff then filed objections, within the ten-day time period prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 72, to Judge Waxse's proposed findings and recommendations. The matter is currently before this court on plaintiff's Objection to the Report and Recommendations of the United States Magistrate Judge (Doc. 17).
The standards this court must employ when reviewing objections to the report and recommendations are clear. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); Fed.R.Civ.P. 72. Only those portions of the recommendation and report that have been specifically identified as objectionable will be reviewed. See Garcia v. City of Albuquerque, 232 F.3d 760, 767 (10th Cir. 2000); Gettings v. McKune, 88 F. Supp.2d 1205, 1211 (D. Kan. 2000). The review of those identified portions is de novo, and the court must "consider relevant evidence of record and not merely review the magistrate judge's recommendation." See Griego v. Padilla, 64 F.3d 580, 584 (10th Cir. 1995).
Plaintiff objects to the portions of the report and recommendations 1) upholding the ALJ's conclusion that plaintiff's medically determinable impairments of asthma and recurring bronchitis do not meet or medically equal the criteria contained in Listing 3.03B; 2) concluding that the ALJ did not err in finding plaintiff's allegations and testimony regarding her limitations not totally credible; and 3) upholding the ALJ's decision that plaintiff could perform other work in the national economy. The court has conducted a de novo review, considering the relevant evidence of record, and agrees with the magistrate judge's finding that the ALJ's determinations regarding those issues should be affirmed. Plaintiff's objections are overruled, and the court accepts the October 1, 2003, Report and Recommendations and adopts it as its own.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff's Objection to the Report and Recommendations of the United States Magistrate Judge (Doc. 17) is overruled.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that United States Magistrate Judge David J. Waxse's Report and Recommendations (Doc. 16) is adopted in its entirety. The decision of the Commissioner denying plaintiff's claims for a period of disability, disability insurance benefits, and SSI under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act is hereby affirmed.