Essiac can treat or cure cancer.
The foundational claim behind Essiac from its origin story onward: that the tea can treat or cure cancer. A patient told Caisse in 1922 that the mixture had already cured her own breast cancer, and Caisse then gave the tea to other cancer patients for decades afterward; the claim persisted into commercial marketing well after her death. In 2000 the FTC proposed a settlement with an Internet seller that the agency alleged had touted Essiac Tea as an effective treatment or cure for cancer, diabetes, and AIDS without adequate substantiation. No controlled human study has supported the claim, and the National Cancer Institute’s current summary states plainly that no controlled data suggest Essiac can be effective in treating cancer patients.
Appears in
Sources
- Essiac/Flor Essence (PDQ(R)): Health Professional Version — PDQ Integrative, Alternative, and Complementary Therapies Editorial Board. Essiac/Flor Essence (PDQ(R)): Health Professional Version. PDQ Cancer Information Summaries. Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute (US); 2002- . NCBI Bookshelf accession NBK66061. PMID 26389495.
- Unconventional therapies for cancer: 1. Essiac — Kaegi E; Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies for cancer: 1. Essiac. CMAJ. 1998 Apr 7;158(7):897-902. PMID 9559016; PMCID PMC1229186.
- FTC Hits Internet Health Fraud in Continuation of Operation Cure.All: New Cases Target Deceptive Hi-Tech Marketing Techniques — Federal Trade Commission. FTC Hits Internet Health Fraud in Continuation of Operation Cure.All: New Cases Target Deceptive Hi-Tech Marketing Techniques. Press release, April 5, 2000. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2000/04/ftc-hits-internet-health-fraud-continuation-operation-cureall