Akin v. Berryhill

Akin, a 47-year-old woman, claims that she became disabled in 2011 principally from fibromyalgia, back and neck pain, and headaches. An administrative law judge denied her application for Supplemental Security Income. The Seventh Circuit remanded, based on Akin’s arguments that the ALJ wrongly discounted her allegations of back pain; improperly credited the opinions of agency physicians who had not reviewed all of the medical records, including relevant MRI scans; and ignored her complaints of headaches. The ALJ impermissibly “played doctor” by impermissibly interpreting the MRI results himself. The ALJ should have developed a more fulsome record about Akin’s testimony of pain before discounting it and improperly discredited Akin because of her conservative course of treatment. View "Akin v. Berryhill" on Justia Law