Sanchez-Rodriguez v. SHHS
Case Date: 10/30/1995
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 95-1537
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October 30, 1995 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION] UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ____________________ No. 95-1537 FELIX SANCHEZ-RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Defendant, Appellee. ____________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Jaime Pieras, Jr., U.S. District Judge] ___________________ ____________________ Before Cyr, Boudin and Lynch, Circuit Judges. ______________ ____________________ Juan A. Hernandez Rivera and Raymond Rivera Esteves on brief for ________________________ _______________________ appellant. Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Maria Hortensia Rios- ______________ _______________________ Gandara, Assistant United States Attorney, and Nancy B. Salafia, _______ _________________ Assistant Regional Counsel, Social Security Administration, on brief for appellee. ____________________ ____________________ Per Curiam. We affirm for substantially the ___________ reasons stated by the district court. We reject claimant's argument that the ALJ improperly substituted his own lay opinion for that of the non-examining physicians. Unlike the non-examining doctors, the ALJ heard claimant's testimony concerning the type of work he had been able to perform with his brothers. That testimony, along with claimant's failure to document his claim of frequent emergency room visits, supports the ALJ's conclusion that claimant was able adequately to perform unskilled work. The ALJ did not err in relying upon the grid to conclude that sufficient unskilled jobs not requiring frequent contact with the public existed in the national economy, which claimant could perform. Ortiz v. Secretary, _____ _________ 890 F.2d 520, 525-28 (1st Cir. 1989); Zalewski v. Heckler, ________ _______ 760 F.2d 160, 165 (7th Cir. 1985). Affirmed. ________ -2- |