Garcia v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Juan Garcia appeals the district court’s affirmance of the Social Security Commissioner’s denial of his application for disability benefits. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Garcia claims the ALJ improperly discounted his testimony. Because Garcia “produc[ed] objective medical evidence of underlying impairment,” the ALJ could reject Garcia’s “testimony about severity of symptoms [only] with specific findings stating clear and convincing reasons for doing so.” Batson v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 359 F.3d 1190, 1196 (9th Cir.2004) (internal quotations omitted). The ALJ provided several such reasons, including conflicts between Garcia’s testimony and that of his wife and his doctor. We defer to the ALJ’s credibility determination “where, as here, the evidence reasonably supports the ALJ’s decision.” Stubbs-Danielson v. Astrue, 539 F.3d 1169, 1174 (9th Cir.2008).

The ALJ properly rejected Dr. Helland’s opinion because it was conclusory, “did not have supportive objective evidence, was contradicted by other statements and assessments of [Garcia’s] medical condition, and was based on [Garcia’s] subjective descriptions of pain.”…