Brooks

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA LORENZO B., Case No.: 19-cv-0786-AGS Plaintiff, ORDER ON SUMMARY-JUDGMENT

MOTIONS (ECF 12 & 13)

v. Andrew SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 14 Defendant. 15 In denying disability benefits, the Social Security Administration never discussed claimant’s well-documented PTSD diagnosis. The key question is whether that oversight was harmless error. BACKGROUND At his disability hearing, claimant Lorenzo B. testified that at a 2010 get-together, someone slashed his throat. (AR 51.) Medical staff needed 17 staples to stitch up the wound, which left a permanent scar. (AR 51-52.) According to Lorenzo, this incident still causes him “flashbacks . . . . [a]ll the time,” in which he “freeze[s] in public,” as well as “night terror[s]” and “crying spells.” (AR 52, 55.) Due to this trauma, several medical professionals diagnosed Lorenzo with PTSD. (See AR 134, 402-03, 441, 681, 833.) His treating psychiatrist found that …