Kent
Kent v. Astrue
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Nancy Kent appeals the district court’s affirmance of an administrative law judge’s (“ALJ”) denial of her application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 416 (i), 423, 1381a. Kent is clinically diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a non-curable disorder that causes inflammation of part of her digestive tract. The ALJ concluded that Kent was not disabled at step two of the five-step sequential evaluation process, see Lester v. Chater, 81 F.3d 821 , 828 n. 5 (9th Cir.1995), because her impairment was not severe, and denied her benefits without considering whether she has the residual functional capacity to return to her previous work or to any other work. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse and remand for additional proceedings.
1. The ALJ’s step-two determination that Kent’s “Crohn’s disease is not a medically determinable ‘severe’ impairment” is not supported by “substantial evidence.” See Webb v. Barnhart, 433 F.3d 683, 687 (9th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also id. (“[A]n ALJ may find that a claimant lacks a medically severe…