Miller Accuses HHS of Statistical Murder

Henry Miller, a physician and molecular biologist, has argued that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is committing what former budget official John Graham calls statistical murder. Miller, the Glenn Swogger Distinguished Fellow at the Science Literacy Project, published an opinion piece on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, stating that Kennedy’s actions have lowered U.S. vaccination rates and led to the foreseeable loss of human life.

Graham defined statistical murder as the sacrifice of lives through flawed government policies that divert resources from effective protections toward imaginary hazards. Miller applied this framework to Kennedy’s tenure, asserting that the secretary attacks effective protections while redirecting official attention to unsupported dangers. The physician noted that while specific individuals cannot always be named, the difference in expected mortality remains a concrete cost.

Miller cited a 2023 interview in which Kennedy stated there was no safe and effective vaccine. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy claimed he intended to add a qualification but was interrupted. Miller pointed to an examination by FactCheck.org, which found that explanation inconsistent with the recorded exchange, suggesting Kennedy perjured himself. The author also referenced a 2019 Danish nationwide cohort study that tracked 657,461 children and found no increased autism risk from MMR vaccination, a finding supported by subsequent large studies.

The piece detailed institutional changes under Kennedy’s leadership. In June 2025, Kennedy removed all 17 sitting members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with individuals Miller described as anti-vaccine shills. In August 2025, HHS announced the wind-down of grants for 22 mRNA vaccine development projects worth nearly $500 million. Kennedy justified these cuts by citing inadequate protection against respiratory infection, a claim Miller said lacks evidence.

Miller highlighted a modeling simulation published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that illustrated the danger of falling vaccination rates. The study predicted that under a 50% decline in childhood vaccination, the United States would face 51.2 million measles cases, 9.9 million rubella cases, 4.3 million poliomyelitis cases, 197 diphtheria cases, 10.3 million hospitalizations, and 159,200 deaths over a 25-year period. The simulation concluded that increasing vaccine coverage would prevent measles from becoming endemic again.

Current data supports the urgency of the argument. The CDC reported 4,410 confirmed measles cases in the United States in 2026. Miller noted that vaccines prevent potentially fatal diseases and that inadequate coverage enables outbreaks. He argued that deliberately weakening protection creates a foreseeable burden of death, even when responsibility for individual fatalities cannot be assigned to a single policy decision.

Miller called on Congress to investigate Kennedy’s decisions and hold him accountable, stating that impeachment would relegate the secretary to well-deserved ignominy. He urged voters to remember these actions when casting ballots on Tuesday.

The article serves as a public call for accountability in the lead-up to the midterms, framing the secretary’s policy choices as a direct cause of preventable illness and death.