Louana Ledbetter v. Carolyn W. Colvin , 576 F. App'x 649 ( 2014 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 13-3182
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Louana Ledbetter
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner, Social Security
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield
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Submitted: August 5, 2014
Filed: August 22, 2014
[Unpublished]
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Before WOLLMAN, GRUENDER, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Louana Ledbetter appeals the district court’s1 order affirming the denial of
disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. Upon de novo
1
The Honorable Brian C. Wimes, United States District Judge for the Western
District of Missouri.
review, see Myers v. Colvin, 721 F.3d 521, 524 (8th Cir. 2013), we find that the
administrative law judge’s (ALJ’s) decision is supported by substantial evidence on
the record as a whole. Specifically, we find that the ALJ properly performed his
function of weighing conflicting evidence and resolving disagreements among
treating and consulting physicians and psychologists concerning Ledbetter’s mental
residual functional capacity (RFC). See Kirby v. Astrue, 500 F.3d 705, 709 (8th Cir.
2007) (it is ALJ’s function to weigh conflicting evidence and resolve disagreements
among physicians; consulting physician’s opinion deserves no special weight); see
also Renstrom v. Astrue, 680 F.3d 1057, 1064-65 (8th Cir. 2012) (treating physician’s
opinion does not automatically control; such opinion must be well-supported by
medically acceptable clinical diagnostic techniques, and can be discounted if based
on claimant’s subjective complaints instead of diagnostic findings). We further find
that the ALJ’s mental RFC determination is consistent with the medical evidence, as
well as the ALJ’s adverse credibility determination. See Tellez v. Barnhart, 403 F.3d
953, 957 (8th Cir. 2005) (ALJ is responsible for determining RFC based on all
relevant evidence, including medical records, observations of treating physicians and
others, and claimant’s own description of limitations).2 The judgment is affirmed.
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2
We consider only the argument Ledbetter has developed. See Garden v. Cent.
Nebraska Hous. Corp., 719 F.3d 899, 905 n.2 (8th Cir. 2013).
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