Barbara A. CARNES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health & Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge:

FACTS

Appellant Barbara Carnes filed her application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income in February, 1988. Her application was denied both initially and upon reconsideration. Carnes then requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (“AU”), and a hearing was held in May, 1989. The AU denied the claimant’s application, and that decision became the final decision of the Secretary in November, 1989, when the Appeals Council denied review.

Appellant then petitioned for review in the Northern District of Alabama. The district…