09-3282 Jones v. Astrue

Listen to this article

Public Health
Disability benefits

Where an ALJ’s adverse credibility determination was supported by the medical evidence, the opinions of treating physicians, and the claimant’s daily activities, the disability claim was properly denied.

“Jones implies that the ALJ based the credibility determination on the absence of medical evidence. Although the ALJ reported that Dr. Karr did not observe any signs of active radiculopathy, the ALJ discussed at length Drs. Karr and Joseph’s opinion that the objective medical evidence demonstrated that Jones’s presentation was benign and mild. Although an ALJ may not ignore a claimant’s subjective reports of pain simply because they are not supported by the medical evidence, discrepancies between the objective evidence and self-reports may suggest symptom exaggeration. Getch, 539 F.3d at 483. Here, the objective medical evidence consistently revealed only mild degenerative change, and the ALJ properly relied upon the discrepancy between the objective evidence and Jones’s self-reports.”

Affirmed.

09-3282 Jones v. Astrue

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Randa, J., Hibbler, J.

Full Text