History about our tea in a nut shell
It was not without effort on the part of those people who lived before us, that the knowledge of these humble herbs was preserved. They went through a 50 year long battle to get these herbs accepted by the medical establishment in Canada. This was 2 fold: firstly, acceptance as being fit for human consumption, and secondly, acceptance as an additional means for treatment for cancer and other numerous illnesses. These herbs continue to be an indescribable blessing to people worldwide, especially to those who need them most– the terminally ill and those who have given up hope.
The following is a condensed version of how our Caisse and Brusch Tea began to come to life.
It all began decades ago when a Canadian nurse, Rene Caisse, received a herbal recipe from an elderly female patient who was in an Ontario hospital where Rene was the head nurse. This recipe was given to the woman 30 years before by a Native American medicine man to help her with her breast cancer. After taking these herbs, the patient recovered from her breast cancer and apparently it never returned.
In 1922, this patient gave Rene this herbal recipe in response to Rene’s request that it could possibly help others. Rene did not use the herbal formula until 1924 when her aunt developed stomach and liver cancer. After the doctors had given her aunt only six months to live, Rene started giving her the herbal drink with the permission of Dr.R.O.Fisher. Rene later declared: “My aunt lived for 21 years after being given up by the medical profession. There was no recurrence of cancer.”
After this experience, Rene started giving these herbs to other patients in need. She had given this herb formula the name “Essiac” (which is her last name “Caisse” spelled backwards). After the doctors realized that patients lived much longer than expected, they also became involved in Rene’s work. Eight doctors signed and sent a petition to the capital in Ottawa, asking the government to provide Rene with treatment facilities. The petition was denied and Rene was threatened with arrest. However, because she did not charge any fees for her work, and was backed up by medical doctors, she escaped arrest.
Rene did not dream of giving up. She had much bigger dreams. She helped patients to get well, researched more, continued to experiment with these herbs, got threatened again with imprisonment, but she continued her work. She simply could not refuse people who were pronounced incurable, or without hope.
A 1932 headline in the Toronto Star read, “Bracebridge Girl Marked Notable Discovery Against Cancer”. Yet, after this good news, she was threatened again with arrest and imprisonment for practising medicine without a licence. She was granted a hearing with the Canadian Minister of Health, the Honorable Dr J.A. Faulkner. Many patients and doctors accompanied her to the hearing for support. After hearing the overwhelming evidence, Dr. Faulkner allowed her to continue with her Essiac treatments. The conditions imposed were that she would not charge a fee and also had a doctor’s written diagnosis for each patient.
Following this, the Bracebridge Town Council donated the old deserted British Lion Hotel building to be used for patients treatment. Finally she had her own rooms; five treatment rooms, one office, a dispensary and a reception area. Most of the thousands of people who came for treatments were severely ill with cancer. When Dr Banting reviewed Rene’s case studies, including pictures before and after treatments, he said: “Miss Caisse, I will not say you have a cure for cancer, but you have more evidence of a beneficial treatment for cancer than any one in the world.”
In 1936, after more petitions were signed by prominent physicians, the Canadian authorities were still not interested to give credence to Essiac. In that same year, Dr John Walker asked Rene to treat terminal ill patients under the observation of five doctors. She was offered an opportunity to work with Dr Richard Leonardo, a specialist from Rochester, New York. He was sceptical at first and believed that patients had good results because of Rene’s pleasant disposition and the hope she offered them. However, after talking with the patients and reviewing the treatment results he said: “Well, by God, you’ve got it! But the medical profession isn’t going to let you do this to me. I have spent seven years in Medical School and I have written books.” This comment was enough for Rene to decline the offers. She knew that none of them would use the formula, but just let it gather dust on the shelves. She felt an obligation and responsibility towards her patients and the Canadian people.
In 1938 Rene’s supporters attempted again to get a bill passed to give her the right to treat cancer patients without the constant threat of arrest. The bill was initiated in the Ontario parliament and supported by a petition with over 55,000 signatures. The bill failed by three votes, principally because of the collusion by the Canadian Medical Association and the newly formed Cancer Commission.
In 1939, Rene Caisse brought 387 patients to testify at a public hearing which was held by the Cancer Commission at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The Commission selected out only 49 patients to be heard. These patients testified about their burns from radium and the diagnoses from their doctors. They had all been given only a short time to live. The Commission declared to Rene: “It is the opinion that the evidence adduced does not justify any favourable conclusion as to the merit of Essiac as a remedy for Cancer.” It was clear to Rene, that to reveal the Essiac formula to the Commission would be a big mistake.
In 1942 Rene was worn out from the long hours of work every day and the constant battle with the establishments. She closed her Bracebridge Clinic and returned to her home town North Bay.
In 1959 attention was brought back to Rene Caisse by Ralph Daigh, an editor with Fawcett Publishing. He arranged to have Essiac investigated by a major Boston Hospital. He believed he had concrete evidence that the medical establishment had suppressed information about the efficacy of Essiac. Daigh arranged for Rene to work together with Dr. Charles Brusch, the personal physician of John F. Kennedy. Dr Brusch got the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute interested in Essiac. They offered for the first time the opportunity to get Essiac out to the world. However, Rene feared that the formula would be shelved if she released it to them. She refused the offer. Then Rene and Dr Charles Brusch, the one she trusted most of all the doctors, went back in 1959 to 1967 to research the Essiac herbal formula at the Brusch Medical Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Together they found that one of the Essiac tea formulas consistently outperformed all others. This formula included the original four Essiac herbs, combined with an additional four herbs. This new and improved formula maximized the effectiveness of Essiac when taken as a tea. The four herb formula is actually just a smaller version of the original eight herb Essiac formula, which was gradually refined and completed by Canadian nurse Rene Caisse together with Dr Charles Brusch.
In 1989 Dr Brusch made the statement: “The results we obtained with thousands of patients of various races, sexes and ages with all types of cancer, definitely prove Essiac to be a cure for cancer.” Later in life, after being diagnosed with cancer himself, he stated: “I have taken Essiac every day since my diagnosis (1984) and my recent examination has given me a clean bill of health.”
Just before Rene Caisse died in 1978 at the age of ninety, she signed over this formula to Dr. Carles Brusch. This was her dying wish. George Brankey, Dr. Brusch’s Attorney and long-term family friend, confirms the success of the Eight Herb Essiac Formula. Dr Brusch officially passed this recipe to the Paulhus Family. Please click Authenticity for further reading.
How Genuine Caisse & Brusch Tea Began