Molina

Opinion by Judge IKUTA; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge GRABER.

OPINION

Edilia Molina appeals the district court’s decision affirming the Social Security Commissioner’s denial of her application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under the Social Security Act. She argues that the administrative law judge (ALJ) erred by giving *1108 inadequate weight to the opinions of her primary care provider, by improperly determining she was not credible, and by rejecting the testimony of her family members without comment. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I

On September 22, 2006, Molina filed claims for disability benefits and supplemental security income, alleging that she suffered from panic and anxiety attacks 1 and had been unable to work since September 7, 2002, when she last held a job as an assembler for Texas Instruments. According to Molina’s primary care provider, physician’s assistant Molly Wheelwright, Molina had a “longstanding panic disorder,” and had tried several anxiety medications and antidepressants, including Lorazepam, over the years. Wheelwright also noted that Molina had to leave work…

concurring in part and dissenting in part:

I concur in Parts I through IV of the majority opinion and also agree with the majority’s conclusion, in Part V, that the ALJ erred in failing to comment in any way on the lay witness testimony. But I dissent because that error was not harmless.

In my view, Stout v. Commissioner, Social Security Administration, 454 F.3d 1050, 1055-56 (9th Cir.2006), means what it says: When Stout requires our harmless error analysis to proceed by “fully crediting” testimony ignored by the ALJ, we must do exactly that. Id. at 1056 (emphasis added). That rule simply reiterates the standard practice that we, as a reviewing court, do not make independent credibility determinations. When an administrative fact-finder has failed to comment adversely on the credibility of testimony taken under *1123 oath, we generally deem the testimony to be truthful for the purpose of review. Cf. Abovian v. INS, 219 F.3d 972, 978 (9th Cir.), as amended by 228 F.3d 1127, 1127 (9th Cir.2000) (“Where the [immigration judge] makes no credibility finding, the petitioner’s credibility is presumed.”).

Treating ignored testimony as true does not, however, necessarily resolve the…

Before: SUSAN P. GRABER and SANDRA S. IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and LEWIS A. KAPLAN, [*] Senior District Judge.

Opinion by Judge IKUTA; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge GRABER.

IKUTA, Circuit Judge:

Edilia Molina appeals the district court's decision affirming the Social Security Commissioner's denial of her application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under the Social Security Act. She argues that the administrative law judge (ALJ) erred by giving inadequate weight to the opinions of her primary care provider, by improperly determining she was not credible, and by rejecting the testimony of her family members without comment. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

On September 22, 2006, Molina filed claims for disability benefits and supplemental security income, alleging that she suffered from panic and anxiety attacks [1] and had been unable to work since September 7, 2002, when she last held a job as an assembler for Texas Instruments. According to Molina's primary care provider, physician's assistant Molly Wheelwright, Molina had a "longstanding panic disorder," and had tried several anxiety…