Wilson v. Colvin

1 Citing case

  1. Cook v. Berryhill

    CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-40112-DHH (D. Mass. Mar. 27, 2017)   Cited 6 times

    However, courts in this district have found that noncompliance with medical advice to cease smoking is a permissible basis on which to discount a claimant's credibility. See Guenther v. Colvin, No. 15-30001-MGM, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19120, at *10 (Feb. 17, 2016) (collecting cases); Sexton v. Barnhart, 247 F. Supp. 2d 15, 23 (D. Mass. 2003) (Neiman, M.J.) (upholding ALJ's credibility assessment, which relied upon, among other things, the fact that plaintiff continued to smoke despite asthma); but see Wilson v. Colvin, No. 12-40162-TSH, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7794, at *25-27 (D. Mass. Jan. 22, 2014) (holding that ALJ improperly considered claimant's failure to quit smoking as cause to discount his back impairment where there was no evidence that quitting smoking would improve claimant's back pain and restore his ability to work). Regardless, even if the ALJ erred in finding that Cook's continued smoking undermined her credibility, such error would be harmless as the ALJ's credibility determination is adequately supported by other record evidence.