A coroner has ruled that a 23-year-old woman who died after refusing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma was “adversely influenced” by her conspiracy theorist mother. Paloma Shemirani died in July 2024 after declining conventional treatment, despite doctors giving her an 80% chance of recovery.
At an inquest in Maidstone, Kent, coroner Catherine Wood said the influence of Paloma’s parents, Kay and Faramarz Shemirani, “more than minimally” contributed to her death. Wood stated that if Paloma had been supported and encouraged to accept her diagnosis and consider chemotherapy with an open mind, she would likely have followed that course and survived.
Kay Shemirani, known online as Kate Shemirani, is a former nurse who was struck off in 2021 for spreading Covid-19 misinformation. The inquest heard that she took a leading role in advising Paloma and facilitating access to alternative treatments. Consultant haematologist Arunodaya Mohan expressed concerns that Kay influenced her daughter’s refusal of treatment.
Paloma initially agreed to steroids and a PET scan but later declined chemotherapy after moving back in with her mother. In written statements to the High Court, Paloma said she declined chemotherapy partly due to her “background in natural healing” and trusted her mother’s advice as a trained nurse and nutritionist. Her twin brother, Gabriel, blamed their mother entirely for Paloma’s death, saying she “sacrificed” her sister for her own principles.
