Sara Smith<\/span>in Maidstone<\/span> and<\/span><\/p>\n
Zac Sherratt<\/span>South East<\/span><\/p>\n
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Paloma Shemirani, 23, died after refusing chemotherapy following a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A high-profile conspiracy theorist influenced her daughter to reject chemotherapy in favour of alternative treatments, which ultimately led to her death, a coroner has ruled.<\/p>\n
Paloma Shemirani, from Uckfield in East Sussex, died in July last year – seven months after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.<\/p>\n
Ms Shemirani, 23, had declined chemotherapy in favour of juices and coffee enemas advocated for by her mother, Kate Shemirani, a former nurse who was struck off for her anti-vaccination views.<\/p>\n
Coroner Catherine Wood said at Kent and Medway Coroners Court on Thursday: “The influence that was brought to bear on Paloma… did contribute more than minimally to her death.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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After her diagnosis in December 2023, Ms Shemirani went to live with her mother and began having five coffee enemas a day, according to her brothers.<\/p>\n
In July 2024, she collapsed at home and was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where she died five days later.<\/p>\n
An osteopath who saw Ms Shemirani on the morning she collapsed told the inquest he had “never seen” a lymphoid mass like hers in 43 years of practice.<\/p>\n
Ms Wood said Ms Shemirani died from the progression of a disease which was curable but not treated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Kate Shemirani blamed medical staff for her daughter’s death<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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She added that treatment would have given Ms Shemirani an 80% chance of a complete cure.<\/p>\n
The Cambridge graduate had initially consented to treatment, the coroner said, adding that “doubts about consent only surfaced after Mrs Shemirani became involved”.<\/p>\n
The coroner said Ms Shemirani was being influenced by her own beliefs, her mother’s, her father’s and by those of a family friend – all who advocated the alternative treatment she used.<\/p>\n
“I found Mrs Shemirani’s care of her daughter incomprehensible but not unlawful killing,” Ms Wood said.<\/p>\n
“It seems that if Paloma had been supported and encouraged to accept her diagnosis and considered chemotherapy with an open mind she probably would have followed that course.”<\/p>\n
Ms Shemirani’s mother tried to blame medical staff for her daughter’s death and has previously labelled chemotherapy as “mustard gas”.<\/p>\n
Staff at Maidstone Hospital, where Ms Shemirani was diagnosed, the Royal Sussex County Hospital and paramedics all acted appropriately, the inquest found.<\/p>\n
Neither her mother or her father – non-medical doctor Faramarz Shemirani – attended the conclusion of the inquest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Gabriel (left) and Sebastian Shemirani speaking to the media outside the court after the conclusion of the inquest into their sister’s death<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Her brothers, Gabriel and Sebastian Shemirani, did attend and said the state had “failed” by not classing their sister’s death as an unlawful killing, despite recognising a breach in their mother’s duty of care.<\/p>\n
Gabriel told the inquest: “I blame my mother entirely for my sister’s death”, adding she had been “obstructing” his sister from receiving treatment.<\/p>\n
The coroner noted the “striking” family dysfunction, which she said had been “on display very publicly” during the inquest.<\/p>\n
“The dynamics within the immediate family were complicated and dysfunctional at the time of Paloma’s death,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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