In an aging society, determining which factors contribute to the employment of older individuals is increasingly important. We examine the impact of medical innovations on the employment of middle-aged women focusing on the specific case of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), a common treatment for the alleviation of negative menopausal symptoms. HRT medications were among the most popular prescriptions in the United States until 2002 when the Women's Health Initiative Study – the largest randomized control trial on women ever undertaken – documented the health risks associated with their long term use. We exploit the release of these findings within a Fixed Effect Instrumental Variable framework to address the endogeneity in HRT use. Our results indicate substantial benefits of HRT use to the short-term employment of middle-aged women.