DISCLAIMER: Any unofficial case summaries below are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
142170P.pdf 02/22/2016 Kimberly Nowling v. Carolyn W. Colvin
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 14-2170
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - St. Joseph
[PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author, with Loken and Gruender, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - Social Security. The ALJ failed to consider Mental Impairment
Listing 12.07 "Somatoform Disorders" when assessing claimant's residual
functional capacity and failed to evaluate fully the vocational expert's
testimony in denying claimant benefits; further, testimony from claimant's
sister-in-law reflecting on the severity of claimant's impairments is
evidence the ALJ is to consider in applying the five-step sequential
analysis, and it is undisputed that the ALJ's opinion failed to address
her testimony or describe what weight, if any, it was given; the failure
to address the testimony was not, under the circumstances presented,
harmless or just an arguable deficiency in opinion-writing technique; the
ALJ also failed to adequately weigh the medical testimony and treatment
records. The matter is remanded to the district court with directions to
remand the case to the agency for further consideration.