Kanawyer

MEMORANDUM *

Erica Kanawyer filed an application for Disability Insurance Benefits before the Social Security Administration (the “Administration”). An Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) conducted an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Kanawyer was disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act (the “Act”), at which hearing Kanawyer and a vocational expert testified. Kanawyer recounted her history of back problems, beginning in 1987 and continuing until the date of the hearing, and also presented medical evidence from the various physicians she had seen over the years. Kanawyer testified to severe and debilitating back pain that made it impossible for her to work, but acknowledged that she performs household chores and takes care of her infant by herself. In addition, a few of the medical reports in the record indicated that the reporting physicians believed that Kanawyer was purposefully performing on orthopedic examinations in a way that would make her pain seem more severe than it really was.

The ALJ subsequently issued a written decision denying Kanawyer’s application for benefits on the ground that she was not *719 “disabled” within the meaning of the Act because…