Timeline of Essiac History

The History of Rene Caisse and the Essiac® legacy

Revolutionary Nurse and Holistics Pioneer

1888 – Rene Caisse is born in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. Her mother worked for the Red Cross, and her father owned a barbershop. She was one of ten siblings and was inspired by her mother to pursue a career in medicine.

1909 (Age 21) – Rene leaves home to study nursing at a private hospital run by Dr. Fritz Carlton Hyde in Greenwich, Connecticut.

1914 – After completing her nursing studies, she returns to Canada to work in mining communities in Northern Ontario, often without access to doctors. She helps establish a two-bed log cabin hospital in Elk Lake and later works in Red Cross tents during a typhoid outbreak in Cobalt, Ontario.

1915 (Age 27) – Rene is promoted to Head Nurse at the Sisters of Providence Hospital in Haileybury, Ontario, where she hears about a cancer remedy from a patient, Mrs. A, who was treated by an Ojibwa tribe.

1922 – Rene’s aunt Mireza is diagnosed with stomach cancer. Using the herbal remedy she learned from Mrs. A, Rene administers the treatment to her aunt, who goes on to live for 21 more years.

1924 – Dr. R.N. Fisher, who had diagnosed Rene’s aunt, becomes a supporter of her work. Together, they begin testing Essiac on mice and humans. Her first external human patient lives four more years after receiving treatment for mouth and throat cancer.

Late 1920s – Rene starts treating patients referred to her by physicians, free of charge, using Essiac. She develops a reputation for her success with terminal cancer patients.

1928-1930 – Rene conducts experiments on mice infected with Rous Sarcoma, extending their lives significantly through Essiac treatment. Despite challenges from authorities, she continues her work under the radar.

1934 – Rene opens her clinic in Bracebridge, Ontario, at the British Lions Hotel, rented for $1 per month. It becomes known as the “Bridge of Hope” as patients flock to her for treatment, even arriving in ambulances.

1935 - Mary McPherson first becomes acquainted with Rene Caisse when Caisse treated her mother, Sarah Tibbel. Her mother’s positive response to the Essiac treatment sparked Mary’s interest in Caisse's work and motivated her to become an advocate for the herbal remedy.

1936 – Dr. Frederick Banting, Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of insulin, supports Rene’s work, stating that she has more evidence of a beneficial cancer treatment than anyone in the world. He offers her a laboratory, but Rene declines, fearing government interference in her formula.

1937 – A petition supporting Rene and Essiac gathers 17,000 signatures in the U.S. Rene is invited to Chicago to work with doctors at Northwestern University, but she refuses to abandon her Canadian patients. Mary McPherson collected signatures for petitions advocating for Essiac.

1938 – A second petition, with 55,000 signatures, pushes Ontario to grant Rene a license to treat cancer patients. The Ontario government passes the Kirby Law, which forms a Cancer Commission to investigate her treatment. Rene refuses to hand over her formula and closes her clinic in Bracebridge.

1939 – Rene defends her work before the Cancer Commission but refuses to reveal the formula for Essiac unless the medical profession acknowledges its merits.

1940s-1960s – Rene continues treating patients privately, often under the radar, as government and medical institutions increase pressure on alternative treatments.

1945 - Rene later successfully treated Mary McPherson’s husband, Cliff, for cancer. Their relationship evolved into a strong partnership, with McPherson playing a crucial role in promoting Essiac and supporting Caisse’s mission.

1959 - Caisse was invited to the Brusch Medical Center in Massachusetts, where she treated terminal cancer patients and laboratory mice with Essiac under the supervision of eighteen doctors. After three months, Dr. Charles Brusch, eminent physician to the New England elite, and his research director, Dr. Charles McClure, concluded that Essiac "has been shown to cause a decided recession of the mass, and a definite change in cell formation" in mice. "Clinically, on patients suffering from pathologically proven cancer, it reduces pain and causes a recession in the growth; patients have gained weight and shown an improvement in their general health.... Remarkably beneficial results were obtained even on those cases at the 'end of the road' where it proved to prolong life and the quality of that life.... The doctors do not say that Essiac is a cure, but they do say it is of benefit."

1970s – In her later years, Rene and Mary continue to advocate for Essiac, but they face financial difficulties and increasing opposition from the medical community.

1977 - Homemaker’s Magazine article on Rene Caisse from 1977 titled “Could ESSIAC halt Cancer?” reignites interest in Essiac.

1977 - Caisse transfers the trademark and the rights to the original recipe for Essiac for the sum of $1 to a Canadian corporation named Resperin (owned by entrepreneur David Fingard) with a promise to continue her research.

1978 – Rene Caisse passes away at the age of 90, leaving behind a legacy of holistic cancer treatment and a battle for alternative medicine recognition.

1979 - Mary McPherson continues to produce Essiac for patients and for Resperin.

1980 - Resperin received approval and began clinical studies of Essiac in cancer patients.

1982 - The Canadian government unexpectedly ordered the studies halted and stopped the research.

1989 - David Fingard dies unexpectedly.

1993 - Terrence (T. P. Maloney) and his brother Kevin acquire the rights for Essiac and promote Essiac for multiple maladies and promise to continue her research.

1994 - 2000 T. P. Maloney meets multiple times with Mary McPherson to learn more about Essiac, its production and formulation.

2000 - T. P. donates $250,000 to the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) for the creation of a herbal library.

2000 - Statues of Rene Caisse are erected in Bracebridge and the CCNM.

2004 - Purdue University publishes “Inhibition of Prostate Cancer-Cell Proliferation by Essiac®” using herbs supplied by Essiac®.

2006 - Mary McPherson dies at 92.

2007 - Essiac® helps fund the building of the Rene M. Caisse Memorial Theater in Bracebridge, Ontario

2007 - Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine publishes “In Vitro Analysis of the Herbal Compound Essiac®”

2010 - University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Hospital publish “Spontaneous regression in advanced non-small cell lung cancer”

2015 - T. P. Maloney departed this life and Kevin Maloney continues the legacy.

2019 - At 82, Kevin retires and passes the Essiac legacy to a new family with the promise to continue the research.

2021 - Whittier College of California publishes “Investigation of the in vivo and in vitro effects of Essiac® liquid herbal extract on health and cancer” testing on 5 cancer cell lines (breast, prostate, myeloma, lymphoma and leukemia).

2021 - Essiac® introduces Essiac GoldTM combining Essiac and AHCC® which has been proven effective in 30 human clinical trials.

2021 - Essiac launches Rene’s Naturals to market natural herbal supplements in the United States.

2022 - Essiac gets USDA organic certification for its newest product, Essiac Daily Drops

2024 - Patient’s Guide to Essiac containing 165 pages of research released (free download on essiac.com)

This timeline covers the major milestones in Rene Caisse's journey, highlighting her contributions to holistic cancer treatment through Essiac and the continuation of her legacy.

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