On October 29, 2026, ProPublica reported that Alicia Jackson, director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), publicly endorsed HHS's November 2025 removal of the "black box" warnings on menopause hormone therapy while still holding at least $115,000 in stock, plus an undisclosed number of options, in Evernow, the online menopause-care company she founded and ran before joining the government. ProPublica based the figures on her financial disclosure records. At the HHS press event announcing the change, Jackson said, "The science is clear: Hormone therapy is safe and effective. And it is hugely beneficial to the vast majority of women." She praised the policy in an agency news release as well.

Why It Matters

The black-box removal is one of the biggest regulatory tailwinds the menopause market has had. It fueled the [HRT prescription surge](/stories/hrt-prescription-surge-fda-warning-removal), and that surge now feeds the [estradiol supply crunch](/stories/estradiol-patch-shortage-fda-action). This investigation doesn't question the clinical evidence behind the change. It does give critics a conflict-of-interest argument against a policy the DTC menopause sector (Evernow, Midi, Hers and others) relies on, at a time when the [Senate Aging Committee](/stories/senate-aging-first-menopause-hearing) and FDA are already examining hormone access. For founders who move between industry and government, expect closer scrutiny of officials' equity stakes in femtech. It is also the second ethics story about MAHA-era health policy in a month, after the [peptide-panel conflicts](/stories/fda-peptide-panel-maha-conflicts).

ProPublica notes it is unclear what role, if any, Jackson had in the decision itself. The FDA regulates drug labeling, and an FDA expert panel had recommended ending the warning months before she arrived. Ethics experts still called her public endorsement an "obvious conflict of interest." Former government ethics lawyer Virginia Canter said it puts Jackson "within the zone of a potential violation" of the federal rule barring officials from participating "personally and substantially" in matters that affect their own finances. ProPublica also reports that Evernow launched a nationwide expansion in the months after the warnings came off, and that both of Jackson's financial disclosures, filed in October 2025 and about two months ago, remain uncertified.

The story follows a Bloomberg Law exclusive. On October 26, HHS told Bloomberg Law that Jackson was on administrative leave, after the outlet asked about a limited conflict-of-interest waiver she had sought. Bloomberg Law reported on October 27 that ARPA-H officials briefed staff on her absence and said HHS was resolving issues in the ethics clearance process, which division leadership called a priority for Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to ProPublica, the draft waiver memo Bloomberg published listed 30 investments held by Jackson and her venture-capitalist husband, and Evernow was not among them. Jackson did not respond to ProPublica, and HHS said it would "assess the facts before determining any change in her status."

Sources

Update — 2026-10-30

Initial entry — story first created.