Carter

MEMORANDUM ***

Walter Carter appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the Commissioner of Social Security in Carter’s action for disability insurance benefits. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) determined that Carter was not disabled because he retained the residual functional capacity to perform a limited range of sedentary work. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The ALJ abused his discretion when he declined to issue an interrogatory requested by Carter to the agency’s examining physician. The interrogatory was designed to elicit whether the examining physician had an opinion regarding whether Carter’s claims of pain and the need to keep his legs elevated were consistent with the examining physician’s findings. After declining to propound the interrogatory, the ALJ made negative credibility determinations regarding Carter’s subjective complaints of pain based upon a lack of objective indicia, such as muscle atrophy.

“A claimant in a disability hearing is not entitled to unlimited cross-examination, but rather ‘such cross-examination as may be required for a full and true disclosure of the facts.’ ” Solis v. Schweiker, 719 F.2d 301, 302…