District court’s denial of claimant’s application for disability insurance benefits is affirmed where, although the ALJ clearly did not make the required findings regarding the severity of claimant’s mental impairment, the error was harmless because it did not deprive the claimant of a substantial right nor did it prejudice him on the merits as the administrative record indicated that his bipolar disorder was not severe enough to render him disabled. 

Read Rabbers v. Comm’r Soc. Sec. Admin., No. 08-2317

Argued: April 22, 2009

Decided and Filed: October 5, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge McKeague

Counsel

For Appellant:  Frederick W. Bleakley, Bleakley Law Offices, PC., Muskegon, Michigan

For Appellee:  Charles R. Goldstein, Social Security Administration, Office of the General Counsel, Chicago, Illinois

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