McKeown v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 22

DECISION AND ENTRY ADOPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE (Doc. 19 ). Signed by Judge Timothy S. Black on 2/27/2017. (mr)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION
JENNIFER McKEOWN,
Plaintiff,
vs.
CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
COMMISSIONER OF
SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant.

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Case No. 1:15-cv-671
Judge Timothy S. Black
Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman

DECISION AND ENTRY
ADOPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE (Doc. 19)
This case is before the Court pursuant to the Order of General Reference in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Western Division to United
States Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman. Pursuant to such reference, the
Magistrate Judge reviewed the pleadings filed with this Court and, on January 31, 2017,
submitted a Report and Recommendation. (Doc. 19). Plaintiff filed objections on
February 14, 2017. (Doc. 20).
After reviewing the Report and Recommendation, Petitioner’s objections, and the
case record, the Court finds that Petitioner’s objections are not well taken. Plaintiff raises
two objections. The first is that the Report and Recommendation improperly allowed the
ALJ to give significant weight to only part of the findings of examining psychiatrist Dr.
Hyatt. To the contrary, the Report and Recommendation explains that the ALJ evaluated
Dr. Hyatt’s findings in conjunction with other record evidence such as Plaintiff’s daily
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activities in creating Plaintiff’s RFC, which is proper. The Court also agrees with the
Report and Recommendation’s finding that the ALJ’s RFC also adequately accounts for
the limitations suggested by Dr. Hyatt. Plaintiff’s second objection is that the ALJ did
not properly weigh the opinion of Mr. Heather, a nurse who had worked with Plaintiff.
As the Report and Recommendation explains, a nurse such as Mr. Heather is not an
“acceptable medical source” entitled to any measure of deference under Social Security
Regulation 06-3p; it was therefore acceptable for the ALJ to discount information from
that source entirely as inconsistent with information from differing acceptable medical
sources available in the record.
Wherefore, as required by 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b), the Court
has reviewed the comprehensive findings of the Magistrate Judge and considered de novo
all of the filings in this matter. Upon consideration of the foregoing, the Court does
determine that such Report and Recommendation should be and is hereby adopted in its
entirety. Accordingly, the Court finds that the ALJ’s decision is supported by substantial
evidence. The ALJ’s decision is therefore AFFIRMED, and this case shall be
CLOSED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

Date: 2/27/17

________________________
Timothy S. Black
United States District Judge

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