Lewis v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Filing 33

Summary Judgment Advice Notice. Signed on 06/12/2013 by Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke. (rsm)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON
MEDFORD DIVISION
DENNIS LEWIS,

Civil No. 1:12-cv-01841-CL

Plaintiff,
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
ADVICE NOTICE
v.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH
AND HUMAN SERVICES,
Defendant.

CLARKE, Magistrate Judge.
This is an action brought by a pro se plaintiff. Defendant Secretary of Health and Human
Services (the Secretary) has filed a motion for summary judgment (#31) seeking to dismiss
Plaintiffs claims against her. If Defendant's motion is granted, it will result in dismissal of
some or all of Plaintiffs' claims.
A motion for summary judgment is governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule
56. Rule 56 provides what a plaintiff must do in order to oppose a motion for summary
judgment. Generally, summary judgment must be granted when there is no genuine dispute of
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material fact -- that is, if there is no real dispute about any fact that would affect the result of
plaintiffs case, the party who asked for summary judgment is entitled to judgment as a matter of
law, which will end plaintiffs

ca~e

against that party. When a party a plaintiff is suing makes a

motion for summary judgment which is properly supported by declarations (or other sworn
testimony), plaintiff cannot simply rely on what the complaint says. Instead, plaintiff must cite
to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically
stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations, admissions, answers to interrogatories,
or other materials, as provided by Rule 56( c), which contradict the facts shown in the moving
party's declarations, documents, and materials, and show that there is a genuine dispute of
material fact for trial. If plaintiff does not submit evidence in opposition, summary judgment, if
appropriate, may be entered against plaintiff. If summary judgment is granted, plaintiffs case
against the moving party will be dismissed and there will be no trial.
In this case, Plaintiffs claim seeks judicial review of a fmal decision by the Medicare
Appeals Council denying his appeal for a refund of his 2011 IRMAA taxes withheld from Social
Security benefits. Judicial review is authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1395ff(b)(l)(A) and§ 405(g).
Judicial review of the Secretary' s decision is generally limited to review ofthe administrative
record, that is, the record as previously developed by the administrative process. For instance,
the decisions by the Administrative Law Judge and the Medicare Appeals Council are both part
of the administrative record.
The court must affirm the findings of the Secretary if they are supported by substantial
evidence in the record. Substantial evidence does not mean the majority of the evidence, but
instead it is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a
conclusion.
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The court must affirm the Secretary' s decision unless it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse
of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law. For instance, the decision is arbitrary
and capricious if the Secretary has relied on factors that Congress did not intend for it to
consider, or failed to consider an important aspect of the problem, or offered an explanation that
is counter to the evidence, or if the reasoning is so implausible.that it could not be explained by a
difference in viewpoint. In this case, the decision by the Medicare Appeals Council is the final
decision of the Secretary, therefore this deferential standard is applied to that decision, as
opposed to the decision by the Administrative Law Judge, even though both decisions are part of
the administrative record.
Therefore, in order for the Plaintiff Mr. Lewis's claim to survive the Defendant's motion,
he must cite to the parts of the record that show that the Secretary' s findings were not supported
by substantial evidence, or that the Secretary' s decision was arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of
discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law.
Plaintiff shall have twenty-four (24) days from the date of this notice, to file a response to
Defendant' s motion for summary judgment in accordance with the requirements of Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure 56. Thereafter, the Defendant may file a reply to Plaintiffs response.

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