Michael Begnaud felt confident that the medical exam he needed to help prove he was disabled would go his way. At age 59, he was a computer IT guy in Liberty who by October 2020 could no longer type on a keyboard without making costly mistakes. He had been fired from his job. Driving was so dangerous, he’d given up his license. He had arthritis, tendinitis, asthma and hearing loss. But to prove he qualified to receive monthly Social Security Disability benefits, Begnaud was told that he would first have to gather more medical evidence. The Missouri disability office set up an exam at Midwest CES — a private company that since 2012 has been paid more than $7.6 million to conduct medical exams. But his appointment at Midwest CES didn’t go as expected. In the end, according to a lawsuit, the exam poisoned Begnaud’s application, playing a role in his being denied more than $1,500 a month in sorely needed benefits. The incomplete exam, he said, lasted less than 15 minutes. Given Midw...