Janet J. YUCKERT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

Plaintiff-appellant Janet J. Yuckert appeals from the judgment of the district court affirming the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to deny Social Security disability benefits to her on the ground that she did not have a “severe” impairment within the meaning of 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520 (c) (1987). We vacate the decision of the district court and remand this matter to the Secretary for a new administrative hearing.

I.

The evidence concerning the existence of Yuckert’s physical impairments is not in dispute. At issue is the severity of her condition.

Yuckert claims that in 1979 she experienced a bout of headaches which left her with several debilitating ailments. She claims these ailments are of sufficient severity to preclude her from working as either a real estate salesperson or travel agent: the two occupations in which she had spent the sum of her working life.

Yuckert’s major complaint is with her eyes. She claims she has lost the ability to refocus quickly when shifting from one object or word to another. When reading she can only focus on one word at a time. As a result, it can take her three or four hours to read a single magazine page. She also…