Former Milwaukee ER doctor pleads not guilty child abuse

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- John Cox of Wauwatosa pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, Feb. 18 to a charge of felony physical abuse of a child. Cox is identified in the criminal complaint as a former emergency room physician with Children's Wisconsin Milwaukee Hospital.

According to the criminal complaint, Cox brought his 1-month-old foster child to a doctor on May 9, 2019, because the child “was exhibiting decreased use of the left arm” and “was concerned that he fractured (the child's) left clavicle while co-sleeping.”

Upon examination, the complaint says a doctor “noticed bruising on each of (the child's) arms that appeared consistent with the skin being 'pinched.' There was also a bruise on the lower right back.” The doctor raised “a concern for abuse.”

On May 10, 2019, a nurse practitioner conducted a physical abuse evaluation on the child, the complaint says. She noticed the infant had “numerous bruises and multiple different planes of the body that are not consistent with the medical history provided by the defendant.”

“Forceful squeezing/compression of the torso laterally can cause both fractures of the clavicle, as well as patterned cutaneous trauma. This constellation of injuries including cutaneous trauma and a clavicle fracture is clinically diagnostic of child physical abuse or inflicted injury,” according to a doctor hired by the Department of Milwaukee Child Protective Services.

“The charges filed against Dr. John M. Cox do not involve care he provided to any Children's Wisconsin patient. He has not seen patients since the allegations were first made and is no longer employed by MCW," according to a statement from Children's Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin.