Holdings
1.) Written reports submitted by physicians in the treatment and evaluation of patients are admissible, and should be considered substantial evidence in disability hearings under the Social Security Act, even though by their nature, they are ‘hearsay.”
2.) Hearsay evidence is admissible up to the point of relevancy in such hearings.
3.) Subpoena of witnesses is within the jurisdiction and allowable under the rules of procedure in Social Security disability hearings.
4.) Reliance on “stacked hearsay” - where written records are reviewed by others who have not examined the patient, but issue reports based on their review, which then are followed by more generation of reports by individuals who have reviewed the record should be discouraged.
5.) It is within the jurisdiction of administrative law judges to hire outside case consultants or advisors to review the issues of the case and offer reports and testimony in the furtherance of resolution. This is a practice that is advisable, in particular in those cases where the medical records and testimony are conflicting, or the medical issues are not clear.
6.) The Social Security Act is to be interpreted liberally in favor of the claimaint.
7.) Social Security disability is different from welfare entitlements and does not require the same level of due process protections under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution as the court delineated in Goldberg v. Kelly
Read more about this topic: Richardson V. Perales
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