Lutterbach
Lutterbach v. Commissioner of Social Security
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 DOLORES ANNA LUTTERBACH, Case No. 20-cv-06835-AGT
Plaintiff,
ORDER ON CROSS MOTIONS FOR
v. SUMMARY JUDGMENT
KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Re: Dkt. No. 25, 28 Defendant.
Dolores Anna Lutterbach applied for and was denied disability-related benefits under the Social Security Act. Now, on judicial review of the decision denying benefits, Lutterbach argues that the decisionmaker, an ALJ, erred by assigning only limited weight to the opinions of two nurse practitioners, Talia Luc and Alicia Bulin, both of whom supported Lutterbach’s claim of disability. When Lutterbach applied for benefits, in January 2017, “a nurse practitioner [was] not an acceptable medical source,” but was instead defined as an “other source[]” entitled to less deference. Britton v. Colvin, 787 F.3d 1011, 1013 (9th Cir. 2015) (simplified). The ALJ could discount testimony from these “other sources” by giving “germane reason[s]” for doing so. Coleman v. Saul, 979 F.3d…