Papenburg
Papenburg v. Commissioner of Social Security
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Judith Papenburg sought judicial review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s *17 decision denying her disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income from 1993 to September 8, 1997. The district court entered judgment for the Commissioner, but we reverse and remand with instructions to take into account Papenburg’s headaches in evaluating whether her impairments equal the listings and in assessing her residual functional capacity.
We review the district court’s decision de novo. Tackett v. Apfel, 180 F.3d 1094, 1097 (9th Cir.1999). We review the Commissioner's decision for legal error and to determine whether the Commissioner’s findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole, weighing evidence which detracts from the finding, as well as that which supports it. Id. at 1097-98 .
At step three of the familiar five-step sequence for evaluating disability claims, 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520 , 416.920 (2001), the ALJ must determine whether the claimant’s impairments, in combination, meet or equal in severity the impairments fisted at 20 C.F.R., Pt. 404, Supbt. P, App. 1; Lester v. Chater, 81 F.3d 821, 828-29 (9th Cir.l995)(as…