Wright v. Colvin, No. 14-2834 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseWright, a 50-year-old man, suffers from back and knee pain. Wright suffered a shoulder injury and complained of low back pain after being involved in a severe car accident in 2000. Wright suffered from another severe automobile accident in 1987. Wright has not reported earning any income in the years 2006–11. When he has earned income, it was seldom over $10,000 for the year. In his applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income benefits Wright testified that his average day consists principally of laying on his back trying to get comfortable and spending around 30 minutes cooking basic meals for himself. His physician noted that Wright had "type 2 diabetes, vitamin D deficiency, tobacco abuse, obesity, [and] bilateral knee arthritis." The district court upheld the Social Security Commissioner's denial of benefits. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the administrative law judge erred by discrediting the opinions of two examining physicians, discrediting Wright's testimony, not considering Wright's mental condition as a severe impairment, and not considering the record as a whole.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Loken and Smith, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Social Security. While the ALJ mistakenly characterized one of claimant's physicians as a nonexamining physician, he had other sustainable grounds for giving that doctor's opinion little weight; the ALJ did not err in finding claimant's testimony regarding his subjective pain and functionality was not credible in light of his work history, daily activities and failure to adhere to treatment; substantial evidence supported the ALJ's consideration of claimant's mental condition. [ June 12, 2015
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.