Cornelious v. Secretary of Health & Human Services

CURTIN, Chief Judge.

Cynthia Cornelious, on behalf of Quiana Goree, a minor, appeals from the final decision of the Secretary denying her application for disability benefits.

At the time of her hearing before the Administrative Law Judge [ALJ], Quiana Goree [plaintiff] was nine months old. Her alleged disability is the congenital absence of the cricopharyngeus muscle and a gas-tro-esophageal reflux. Since this muscle is a major component of the act of swallowing, plaintiff is unable to swallow normally and is fed entirely through a gastrostomy tube. The AU found that plaintiffs impairment does…