Gary D. Stephens appeals from the final order entered in the District Court 1 for the Northern District of Iowa, affirming the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, following a remand from the district court, to deny Stephens disability insurance benefits. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.
In January 1990, Stephens applied for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income (SSI). On March 15, 1991, following a hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) concluded Stephens was eligible to receive SSI, but denied him disability insurance benefits on the ground that he was not disabled as of December 31, 1987, the date his insured status expired. Stephens sought judicial review, and the district court remanded the case to the Secretary to properly discuss and consider the Polaski factors and any perceived inconsistencies. Stephens v. Sullivan, No. C 92-2019 (N.D.Iowa Aug. 27, 1992). On remand, a different ALJ conducted another hearing, restricting the evidence to Stephens’s condition before December 31, 1987.
At the second hearing, Stephens testified that he was born April 15, 1946; attended college for three years; and worked off and on between 1967 and 1982, principally as a gear finisher. Stephens described his impairments as including a “broken” back, bad knee, and neck problems. In 1969 Stephens underwent a diskectomy and interbody fusion of the lumbar vertebra; he also had several knee injuries requiring surgeries. He testified that he was addicted to pain pills between 1969 and 1983, at which time he weaned himself from narcotics. Stephens stated that between 1982 and 1987, he could walk only 300 feet and stand only sixty or ninety seconds because of leg and back pain; he did not bend, stoop, squat, lift, carry, push, or pull; and he mostly lay in bed and watched television. He testified that he lived alone across the street from his parents, who supported him and occasionally cooked for him. The vocational expert testified that there were sedentary jobs Stephens could perform.
The ALJ concluded that Stephens’s mus-culoskeletal problems were severe but did not meet or equal any listed impairment. In evaluating Stephens’s subjective complaints of pain under
Polaski v. Heckler,
Giving Stephens the benefit of any doubt, the ALJ concluded he could not return to his usual past relevant work. After noting the shift in the burden to the Secretary to show there was other work Stephens could perform, the ALJ concluded on the basis of the vocational expert’s testimony that there was a wide range of sedentary work which Stephens could have performed before 1987. The Appeals Council denied further review, Stephens sought judicial review, and the district court concluded that the ALJ satisfactorily discussed and considered the Polaski factors.
This court’s “task is limited to a determination of whether the Secretary’s decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole.”
McClees v. Shalala,
To qualify for disability insurance benefits, Stephens must establish that he was disabled before December 31, 1987, the date his insured status expired.
See Battles v. Sullivan,
We conclude that the ALJ appropriately evaluated the evidence, noting substantial inconsistencies in the record. The ALJ supported his determination that Stephens’s testimony was not credible, citing the complete absence of medical treatment for approximately four years, his apparent return to physical activity after 1988, his history of exaggerating physical impairments, his erratic work history, and his former abuse of narcotics. Credibility findings are for the ALJ to make in the first instance.
Smith v. Heckler,
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Notes
. The Honorable Edward J. McManus, Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa.