Thaisheena Nicholson v. Nancy A. Berryhill, No. 16-4180 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Per Curiam - Before Wollman, Loken and Benton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Social Security. Denial of benefits was supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole, and the ALJ was not required to give controlling weight to the opinions of treating physicians insofar as the opinions were conclusory, based on subjective complaints or outside the doctors' areas of expertise. [ August 17, 2017
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United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 16-4180 ___________________________ Thaisheena M. Nicholson lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant v. Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City ____________ Submitted: August 7, 2017 Filed: August 18, 2017 [Unpublished] ____________ Before WOLLMAN, LOKEN, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Thaisheena M. Nicholson appeals the district court’s1 judgment upholding the decision of the Acting Commissioner of Social Security to deny Nicholson’s 1 The Honorable Sarah W. Hays, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Missouri, to whom the case was referred for final disposition by consent of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). application for supplemental security income. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms. The record supports the district court’s conclusion that the administrative law judge (ALJ) did not grant Nicholson’s request to reopen and reconsider the merits of her prior applications for benefits, as the ALJ did in Jelinek v. Heckler, 764 F.2d 507, 508 (8th Cir. 1985). Absent a de facto administrative reopening, this court has no jurisdiction to review the denial of a request to reopen without a hearing. See California v. Sanders, 430 U.S. 99, 107-08 (1977). Upon de novo review, this court finds the benefits decision is supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. See Teague v. Astrue, 638 F.3d 611, 614 (8th Cir. 2011). The ALJ’s credibility findings are entitled to deference because those findings are supported by good reasons and substantial evidence. See Mabry v. Colvin, 815 F.3d 386, 389 (8th Cir. 2016). The ALJ was not required to give controlling weight to the opinions of treating physicians insofar as those opinions were conclusory, based on subjective complaints, or outside the doctors’ area of expertise. See Julin v. Colvin, 826 F.3d 1082, 1088-89 (8th Cir. 2016); Wildman v. Astrue, 596 F.3d 959, 965-67 (8th Cir. 2010). The judgment is affirmed. ______________________________ -2-
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