Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
Q: I have filed for Social Security because I can’t work anymore. I go in every month for my medicine but I rarely see the doctor. At every visit I am seen by my nurse practitioner. She is great and has said she will help me because she knows I cannot work. Will Social Security accept what she says or does it have to come from a doctor?
Deanna
Rogersville, AL
A: There are actually two issues in the question you present. The first issue I see in your question is, “she knows I cannot work”. The only person who can make that decision is a Social Security Judge. Doctors can send letters to Social Security that say you are disabled and cannot work, but the judge would not be required to find you disabled based on that doctor’s opinion. The issue of whether or not you are disabled is reserved to the Social Security Judge. Although this may sound wrong, there is a reason. Social Security has a very specific set of rules which define what constitutes “disability”. What a doctor thinks disability means may not be how Social Security rules define disability.
Social Security Ruling 96-6p states that the opinion of a treating doctor must be given “controlling weight” if that opinion is supported by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory evidence and is not “inconsistent” with other evidence. “Controlling weight” means that the opinion of a treating doctor must be adopted and/or accepted by the judge. So the opinion of a treating doctor which says you can only lift 10 pounds and the doctor’s records support that limitation and there is no evidence to the contrary, then the judge must find that you can lift only 10 pounds.
The problem you face is that a nurse practitioner is not an acceptable treating source under Social Security law (20 CFR 404.1502, 416.902). Therefore, the judge is not obligated to adopt any limitations your nurse practitioner may say you have. However, if your doctor signed the form in addition to your nurse practitioner I would argue that the opinion is that of the doctor’s. That said our judges are well aware that it is often the nurse practitioner who has actually spent significant time with he patient. Although they are not bound to give the opinion of your nurse practitioner “controlling” weight, they can choose to give a nurse practitioner’s opinion significant weight and use their opinion as supporting your inability to work. Simply put, the opinion of your nurse practitioner will not be ignored but it may not win your case for you. You always want the doctor’s agreement and signature for Social Security disability purposes.
Buckle up and drive safely.
McCutcheon & Hamner, P.C.
2210 Helton Drive
Florence, Alabama 35630
Telephone: 256-764-0112
Facsimile: 256-764-1124
