Social Security Disability cases are not decided by you disability attorney or by your work’s human resources department. Federal Administrative Law Judges conduct disability hearings. These judges decide cases based upon the testimony of witnesses your disability attorney provides at the hearing and, most importantly, the medical evidence of record.

Medical evidence considered by the judge is accorded varying degrees of evidentiary weight.

The following is an excellent example, quoted from an actual ALJ decision with names deleted for privacy purposes, regarding the importance and persuasiveness of the opinion of a treating physician or other treating source:

As to the opinion evidence, Dr. X, the claimant’s long time treating psychiatrist, provided a Medical Source Statement – Mental, dated January 19, 2015, in which he opined the claimant is markedly limited in the abilities to understand, remember, and carry out simple instructions; make judgments on simple work-related decisions; interact appropriately with the public, coworkers, and supervisors; and extremely limited in the abilities to respond appropriately to usual work situations and to changes in a routine work setting, and to complete a normal work-day and work-week without interruptions from psychologically based symptoms; and to perform at a consistent pace without an unreasonable number and length of rest periods (Exhibit 9F). A treating physician’s medical opinion of the nature and severity of a claimant’s impairment may be given great weight if it is well supported and not inconsistent with other substantial evidence in the case record. 20 C.F.R. 416.927(d); SSR 96-2p. Here, Dr. X’s opinion is consistent with his treatment notes over a period of approximately three years as well as the opinion of the claimant’s special education teacher and the results of Dr. Y’s neuropsychological testing. Accordingly, Dr. X’s opinion is given great weight.

Emphasis added.

As one can see, it is hard to overestimate the value of a well-supported opinion of a treating doctor in a disability claim.

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