Graduate who died at 23 after refusing chemo was 'influenced' by conspiracy theorist mum

A graduate who died after refusing chemo was “adversely influenced” by her conspiracy theorist mum, a coroner has found.

Paloma Shemirani, 23, collapsed last year after refusing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Instead the Cambridgestudent followed an “alternative” treatment plan including daily coffee enemas advised by her parents.

An osteopath who saw Paloma on the morning she collapsed said he had “never seen” a lymphoid mass like hers in 43 years of practice.

Her mum, Kay “Kate” Shemirani, a prominent online conspiracy theorist, and dad, Dr Faramarz Shemirani, who is “sympathetic” to his ex-wife’s views, tried to blame medical staff for their daughter’s death.

But yesterday coroner Catherine Wood concluded that their influence on Paloma “more than minimally” contributed to her death. And she branded Paloma’s mum’s actions “incomprehensible”

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Her mum claimed that she “looked well” on July 19 2024, the day she collapsed. The Coroner found it “incredible” that Ms Shemirani was claiming her daughter was “well” in July.

She said it was “egregious and incomprehensible” that she did not seek further medical advice as Paloma’s condition worsened. “The influence that was brought to bear on Paloma did contribute more than minimally to her death,” said Coroner Wood.

Paloma’s twin brother Gabriel Shemirani told the inquest “I blame my mother entirely for my sister’s death”, by “obstructing” his sister from receiving treatment.

Yesterday at Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court in Maidstone, coroner Wood said: “In December 2023, Paloma Shemirani attended the Maidstone Hospital and was found to have a large and bulky upper right side medicinal mass... There is no doubt that the mass was a non-Hodgkin lymphoma.”

Her mum questioned medical staff to the extent that the coroner found it “highly likely that she seeded some form of doubt in Paloma’s mind as to her diagnosis”. Ms Shemirani was struck off as a nurse in 2021, and a Nursing and Midwifery Council committee found she had spread Covid-19 misinformation that “put the public at a significant risk of harm”.

“Mrs Shemirani took a leading role in advising Paloma in respect of and facilitating access to alternative treatments,” said Ms Wood. After graduating from Cambridge, Paloma was working and living in a flat with a housemate and was “estranged” from her mum until her cancer diagnosis.

Ms Shemirani encouraged her to come back to the family home and took a leading role in Paloma’s alternative “treatment programme”, which involved daily coffee enemas and a strict diet, the inquest heard. At the time of her diagnosis, doctors at Maidstone Hospital told Paloma she had an 80% chance of recovery through chemotherapy.

The coroner said: “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.” She later added: “If approached with an open mind, Paloma would have chosen the chance to survive, and if she had undergone chemotherapy she probably would have survived.”

Paloma’s twin brother brought a High Court case to assess his sister’s ability to exercise her capacity to make medical decisions. While Paloma gave a witness statement saying she was making her own choices, she had said in a text that she was being “kept out” of the proceedings, the court heard.

The coroner noted the “striking” family dysfunction which had been “on display very publicly” during the inquest. Ms Shemirani and her ex-husband did not attend the conclusion of the inquest but gave “no valid reasons” that should halt proceedings, the coroner said.