According to FTC, is illegal for anyone "to claim that Essiac cures, alleviates or prevents any disease or condition." In 2000, the FTC brought charges against an essiac marketer including redress of $17,500 and letter which FTC wrote and ordered the marketer to send to his customers, seen at ftc.gov/os/2000/04/millerattachmenta.htm. This excerpt from the letter illustrates singular categorizing of "Essiac" and "Essiac tea" by the FTC..

If you are interested in the scientific research that has been done on alternative cancer treatments including Essiac, you may want to read a report published by the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment. The report is called, "Unconventional Cancer Treatments," and was published in 1990. Chapter 4 deals with herbal treatments including Essiac. The report collected the available published studies on Essiac tea and other alternative cancer remedies.

The outdated 1997 FDA Import Alert IA6664 regarding "Essiac and Products Containing Essiac" is relevant here because it shows such variation in names of "Products Containing Essiac" (Caisse's Herbal Tea, Canaid Herbal Drink, Easy-AC, Flor-Essence, Native Legend Tea, Burdock Blend Capsules and Canadian Native Tea). Internet search engines seek for Essiac and products containing Essiac when you enter keyword "Essiac" or "essiac".

CIMER (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Complementary/Integrative Medicine Education Resources) and other prestigious institutions study and report on alternative cancer treatments including Essiac, demonstrating that any and all herbal combinations based on Rene Caisse's formula are routinely classified as Essiac and have been for a long time.

For more than 20 years, all articles and books published about Rene Caisse or her formula have consistently used the capitalized name "Essiac" in reference to her formula. The generic term "essiac" has long been used, recognized and accepted in the public domain as the (unproven) herbal remedy attributed to Rene Caisse regardless of trademark, product name or recipe variation.

According to the UK Trademark Office: (as quoted in a report sent by a UK researcher)
" ' Essiac' or 'essiac' is a generic term which has become customary in the trade. With the benefit of the internet, 'Essiac' would have never been allowed to be registered in 1993. If someone opposed it, the Trade Office feels the opposition would would win because the Essiac mark is in a very weak position. It's just the expense of opposing - however we feel that they wouldn't stand a chance in court if they decided to take it further - it would end up losing them their trademark."

  "Essiac" or "essiac" is a generic term which has become customary in the trade.