Background

On September 30, 1986, OHA issued Staff Guides and Programs Digest (SGPD) Bulletin No. III-21(86) to advise OHA components of the pain standard to be applied in the First Circuit, pursuant to the court of appeals' order in Avery, et al. v. Secretary of HHS. The SGPD Bulletin was subsequently converted to HALLEX Temporary Instruction (TI) 5-423. On December 11, 1991, the Associate Commissioner issued a memorandum to all OHA adjudicators that forwarded copies of newly published regulations on the evaluation of pain and other subjective complaints. The memorandum advised that SSA was evaluating the effect, if any, of the regulations on related court orders and that any changes in court-ordered procedures would be announced at a later date.

Explanation of Content and Changes

We are revising and reissuing this TI to reflect that the standard approved by the court in Avery is consistent with the regulations published on November 14, 1991, and that the new regulations are the appropriate standard for OHA adjudicators to use in evaluating pain and other subjective complaints of claimants in the First Circuit.

Remove

Remove TI 5-423 issued September 30, 1986.

Insert

Insert TI 5-423 issued August 11, 1992.

Date: August 11, 1992