The People

Rene Caisse 1888-1978 – Ontario  nurse, developer of Essiac (Caisse spelled backwards).

Mary McPherson 1913-2006 – Ontario native, patient, friend and helper for Rene Caisse for over 43 years, was the only person allowed to help Rene make Essiac, and continued to supply Rene’s patients after her death, until she “retired” at age 86 in 1999.

Sheila Snow 1929-2008 – Ontario native, worked with Rene Caisse 1974-1977, friend and writing partner with Mali Klein. 

Mali Klein b. 1951 - Native of England, worked with Sheila Snow and Mary McPherson, founded Clouds Trust, a Registered Essiac charity in the UK, co-author with Sheila Snow of four Essiac books, as well as Black Root Medicine the Original Native American Essiac Formula (Mali Klein, 2014, softcover, 54 pages) Mali has been growing the Essiac herbs for over 20 years, and since 2012 has focused her research on the original 8-herb formula..

The herbs

Sheep sorrel (Rumex Acetosella) – whole herb including root – 35% of Classic Essiac 4-herb formula and 100% of sheep sorrel solution formula

Burdock (Arctium Lappa) – root – 53% of Classic  Essiac 4-herb formula

Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) – inner bark – 9% of Classic Essiac 4-herb formula

Turkey Rhubarb (Rheum Palmatum) – root – 2% of Classic Essiac 4-herb formula

Periwinkle (Vinca major) – root, possibly whole herb – in original native formula

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) – root, possibly whole herb – in original native formula

Watercress (Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum) – root – in original native formula – may have been a “back-up” herb when other stocks for Essiac were low.

Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) – root - #1 candidate for un-named 8^th herb in original native formula

 The history

1924 -Rene treats her first patient (her aunt) for inoperable cancer under supervision of Dr. R. O. Fisher, who lives for 21 more years.  Under doctor supervision, Rene begins private testing of mice with human carcinoma – testing shows promising results.

1926 –Upon successful petition of 8 doctors to Canadian Dept. of National Health & Welfare, Rene is provided research facilities at the Christie Street Hospital Laboratories in Toronto to test Essiac on mice with Rous Sarcoma.  Essiac keeps them alive longer than any treatment had previously.  At the same time, Dr. Frederick Banting  (one of the main discoverers of insulin) offers to work with Rene in  his facilities at Univ. of Toronto.

1927 - Rene quits her general nursing work in favor of independent research and treatment of terminal patients with Essiac.  Ontario Minister of Health grants Rene permission to carry on treating patients as long as she charges no fee and Patients have written diagnoses/referrals from their doctors.

1934 – Dr. Albert Bastedo co-leads successful drive to get town council  to provide facilities for a Cancer Clinic for Rene in her home town of Bracebridge, Ontario.  Clinic opens August 1935.

Summer 1936 -  Canadian Medical Association offers Rene the opportunity to do formal animal testing, but she declines, feeling she’s done enough testing on animals.

Winter 1936-7 – In addition to clinic patients, Rene travels regularly to Toronto to treat patients, and also to Chicago to treat 12 patients in a clinical trial at Northwestern University Tumor Clinic. Chicago Doctors offer to open a clinic in the Passervant Hospital if Rene will move to U.S.

Summer 1937 – Dr. Richard Leonardo offers to set up a clinic and work with Rene in Rochester, NY if she will move to U.S. Rene refuses U.S. offers in favor of proving Essiac in Canada.

March 24, 1938 – a bill is presented to the Ontario Legislature to formally authorize Rene to practice medicine for the treatment of cancer.  Bill fails by three votes in favor of legislation setting up a cancer commission to hear Rene’s case.

June 1, 1938 – Legislation goes into effect establishing Cancer  Commission and giving it the authority to require that Rene divulge her formula - subject to a fine and/or 30 days’ incarceration if she refuses.  Rene closes clinc.

July 28, 1938 – Rene marries Charles McGaughey

August 1938 – Rene re-opens clinic after thousands of letters to the Health Department and a huge public outcry for clinic to be re-opened. Cancer Commission appointed in August 1938.

October 1938 – Commission interviews Rene and in February 1939 two members visit the clinic.

July 4, 1939 – Cancer Commission hearing – less than 50 of more than 380 patients in support of Essiac and Rene’s work are allowed to testify.  Commission demands formula but Rene wants effectiveness of Essiac acknowledged on its merit and assurance that it would remain available to the public, before providing formula to the commission – impasse, resulting in unfavorable preliminary report filed in January 1940; no final report ever made.

January 1941 – Rene permanently closes Bracebridge clinic.  Over the course of its existence Rene treated on average more than 400 patients per week. After clinic closes, Rene moves to North Bay, Ontario and continues to quietly treat patients.

1942 – Rene takes out a lifetime patent on another formula she had been developing in tablet form to treat prostate cancer and kidney problems.  Tablets remained on market until 1976 when Canadian government abruptly canceled the patent.

1943 – Rene’s husband dies and she moves back to Bracebridge where she continues to treat a few patients, but is under surveillance by Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons – this goes on for the rest of her life.

1959-1960 - Rene works with Dr. Charles Brusch, Cambridge Mass. doing animal and human studies to investigate the properties of Essiac.

1963 – Rene writes “I Was Canada’s Cancer Nurse”

1974-76 – Studies on Essiac done at Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute – best results when sheep sorrel root included in test – overall results inconclusive due to quality control issues.

June 1977 – Homemakers Magazine of Toronto publishes an article “Could Essiac Halt Cancer?” and triggers a national resurgence of interest in Essiac.  Rene has to have an extra phone line added to cope with all the calls, gets the attention of the Canadian Cancer Research Foundation and the Cancer Institute in Toronto, who caution Rene not to treat any more people  and authorizes a human study to be done by a St. Marie, Ontario oncologist.Testing conducted by Drs. David Walde and John Barker – due to poor quality materials, Essiac still not clinically proven effective. Resperin Corporation, a small almost defunct pharmaceutical company based on Toronto, promises it will set up clinical studies on human patients all across Canada in return for exclusive marketing rights.  

October 1977 –Rene gives Resperin Corp. a formula for the token sum of $1. Promised clinical studies never materialize.

Spring 1978 – a public forum in Toronto failed to have the formula for the tea publicly recognized.  

June 1978 - In Detroit MI a class-action lawsuit brought in a bid to recognize the formula in the US was dismissed.

August 11, 1978 – Rene’s 90^th birthday party, organized by Mary McPherson and attended by over 600, honors her life and work

September 1978 –Rene honored and recognized for her work at an alternative therapies convention in Detroit.

December 26, 1978 – Rene’s life ends after being hospitalized after a fall that breaks her hip.