Pamela A. STONE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret M. HECKLER, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

Pamela Stone appeals from an order of the district court upholding the Secretary’s finding that her husband, Glen Stone, was not disabled. We reverse.

In March 1980, Stone applied for disability benefits. Stone had diabetes and was insulin dependent. He suffered from neu-ropathic joint disease and bone degeneration in his feet. Stone has since died, although the record does not indicate the cause of death.

Following a hearing, the administrative law judge (ALT) found that Stone’s impairments prevented him from performing any of his previous work, but that he had residual functional capacity to perform sedentary work. The AU then applied the medical-vocational guidelines, see 20 C.F.R. pt. 404, app. 2, (1984), and concluded that Stone was not disabled. The Appeals Council denied review of the AU’s decision.

The district court, following our decision in Hall v. Secretary of Health, Education & Welfare, 602 F.2d 1372, 1377 (9th Cir. 1979), ruled that the Secretary could not rely solely on the medical-vocational guidelines and remanded for findings on whether there were specific jobs Stone was capable of performing. The Secretary appealed and, based on the Supreme Court’s…