Alden B. Ryan v. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States of America

This is an appeal by an unsuccessful applicant for disability insurance benefits provided by Section 223 of the Social Security Act [ 42 U.S.C. § 423 ].

The Secretary denied the application on the sole ground that Ryan, the applicant, did not meet the precondition of “inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment”; in essence, the Secretary’s conclusion was that Ryan was mentally and physically able to work and that his plight was wholly due to a complete lack of environmental adaptability.

The record contains substantial evidence to that effect. Until 1960 Ryan had always resided in Illinois. His home, his work and his social and fraternal ties had all been in Chicago. However, in that year he and his wife left that city, coming to Los Angeles to live near their married daughter. Ryan soon learned that he could no longer engage in his lifelong vocation. While in high school he had started working part time in a pharmacy, and shortly afterwards secured a license as an apprentice. Having been so licensed prior to 1917, he had been permitted to take the Illinois pharmacists examination, under a waiver…