Russell F. Myers v. Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

Appellant appeals from the District Court’s affirmance of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare’s denial of total disability Social Security benefits.

Appellant is a 61-year-old man with a 10th grade education, who quit his job operating a file cutting machine after 28 years at work on it because of low back pains. Appellant’s doctors diagnosed his problem as degenerative disc syndrome, and two of the doctors gave as their opinion that he was totally disabled.

The Secretary concedes appellant is disabled from his prior occupation but asserts that, nonetheless, he retains residual…