Rivera v. Commissioner ( 2000 )

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION–NOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]
United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 99-2344
BLANCA RIVERA,
Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant, Appellee.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Carmen Consuelo Cerezo, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Torruella, Chief Judge,
Selya and Stahl, Circuit Judges.
Fabio A. Roman Garcia on brief for appellant.
Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Lilliam Mendoza Toro,
Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Robert M. Peckrill, Assistant
Regional Counsel, Social Security Administration, on brief for
appellee.
July 25, 2000
Per Curiam. After carefully reviewing the briefs
and record on appeal, we affirm the Commissioner’s decision.
The record contained substantial evidence that the appellant
suffered no severe, nonexertional impairment of twelve-
months duration. The ability to engage in repetitive wrist
motion is normally an exertional capacity. The appellant
did not develop any argument that her need to avoid
repetitive wrist motion operated as a nonexertional
impairment in her case. 20 C.F.R. 404.1569a; Rodriguez
Pagan v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 819 F.2d 1,
2 (1st Cir. 1987).
Although manual dexterity is a nonexertional
capacity required for sedentary work, the record contained
explicit medical findings of adequate manipulative skills.
The March 1995 medical report stated, inter alia, that the
appellant could handle common objects and lift medium
weights, and the March 1992 report stated that she had full
range of motion in her left hand. Moreover, the record
contained no evidence that the appellant had any severe,
manual impairment that persisted for at least twelve months.
20 C.F.R. § 404.1509. The record shows that her symptoms
were initially sporadic in the first year of alleged
disability, she sought no treatment for the next three
years, and her ability to handle common objects was reported
to be normal at the end of the disability period. Irlanda
Ortiz v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 955 F.2d
765, 770 (1 st Cir. 1991)(per curiam)(lack of sustained
treatment supports decision that claimant was able-bodied).
Since substantial evidence supported the finding that the
appellant suffered no significant, nonexertional impairment,
the ALJ did not err in applying the Grid or in failing to
find that she was disabled by lack of bilateral, manual
dexterity. Ortiz v. Secretary of Health and Human Services,
890 F.2d 520 (1st Cir. 1989)(per curiam).
Affirmed. Loc. R. 27(c).
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