Whitford

MEMORANDUM *

Patrick Whitford (‘Whitford”) appeals the administrative law judge’s (“ALJ’s”) decision to deny Whitford’s request for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. He argues that the ALJ committed reversible error by failing to give specific and legitimate reasons for rejecting the opinion of a nurse practitioner. The district court affirmed the ALJ’s decision, while acknowledging the possibility of error on the part of the ALJ.

Whitford has back pain due to degenerative disc disease and associated chronic pain and depression. Despite acknowledging these “severe” impairments, the ALJ denied benefits on the ground that Whitford’s residual functional capacity allows him to perform a significant range of light work and that there are a significant number of jobs in the national economy that he could perform. The ALJ also found that Whitford’s allegations about his impairments were “not totally credible.”

Whitford argues that the ALJ erred by failing to give specific and legitimate reasons for rejecting the opinions of a psychiatric nurse practitioner, Teresa Keane (“Keane”), who was seeing him for…