Duggan

MEMORANDUM ***

Michael W. Duggan appeals pro se the district court’s judgment affirming the denial of his application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under the Social Security Act. Duggan claims disability based on a combination of mental health problems and physical problems with his back stemming from a motorcycle accident in 1981. The administrative law judge (“ALJ”) found that Duggan did not have an impairment or combination of impairments rendering him disabled, and that he maintained the residual functional capacity to perform work in the competitive national market. While his appeal was pending, Duggan submitted another application for benefits, which was successful. Therefore, this appeal concerns only the retroactive award of benefits over a closed period.

Duggan complained of back pain and back spasms stemming from a motorcycle accident and spinal fusion surgery in 1981, and he complained of depression. No evidence in the medical record suggests that Duggan’s back injury rendered him physically incapable of performing all types of work. Moreover, the ALJ did not improperly discredit Duggan’s subjective complaints of back pain. An ALJ…