Post By: Claudine Aitcheson | Founder, Flourishing Through Menopause | Healthcare Administrator | Surgical Menopause Advocate, November 13, 2025

The FDA Just Admitted a 20-Year Mistake

This article is one of celebration.

On November 10, 2025, the FDA removed the black box warning from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) labels. That is huge.

Many women suffered in silence needlessly because of this warning. In November 2025, they finally acknowledged that it was a lie, an error, and an injustice to all women and men alike.

Because menopause doesn't just affect women. It impacts the men and everyone in their lives.

I was one of those women who suffered because of this warning.

I went six years after my hysterectomy without HRT, not because my doctor refused to prescribe it, but because I was too afraid to take it.

The black box warning had done its job: it terrified me into thinking HRT would give me cancer.

When I said no, my doctor just said okay and sent me on my way.

Six years of darkness that didn't have to happen. Six years of asking why I survived surgery at all. Six years of my husband watching me disappear. All because I was afraid of a warning that turned out to be wrong.

The black box warning that was placed on HRT labels in 2002, was based on flawed studies that scared an entire generation of doctors away from prescribing treatment.

For over 20 years, 50 to 70 million women were denied relief from debilitating symptoms. Hot flashes. Bone loss. Depression. Cognitive decline. Heart disease risk etc. All because the medical establishment got it wrong.

All because the medical establishment got it wrong.

The FDA's reversal is a victory. But it's also an admission of how badly we failed women.

Although this is good news, there is still much to be done.

We must educate doctors in a way that they can educate women. Because most women do not know the symptoms of menopause.

There are still women who believe menopause will not affect them. There are women on medication for diabetes, bone loss, and various health conditions who insist they are not affected by menopause.

There are women who are stressed, anxious and agitated with their spouse for no reason. And they are blaming their partner instead of recognizing menopause.

I see it all the time. Women suffering without realizing menopause is the cause. Women told by doctors, That's just aging or Try to manage your stress. Women medicating symptoms instead of treating the root cause.

Let's be clear: menopause does not bypass any woman.

It does not care about your socioeconomic background or your race. Menopause has no biases.

Every woman will one day enter menopause.

Let us enter that door, the one that is going to open for us…with grace and pride.

Let us not be afraid to say, I am in menopause. Let us get the education we need so we can weather it gracefully and flourish through menopause.

The FDA removed the warning. Now it's our turn to remove the silence.

In my next post, I'm sharing what I'm doing to make sure no woman suffers the way I did. It's bigger than a blog post. It's bigger than my story. It's a mission to change how medicine treats menopause…forever.

Have you been denied HRT because of the black box warning? Have you suffered in silence?

Tell me in the comments. Your story matters.