Mother's Anti-Chemotherapy Beliefs Influenced Young Woman's Death
A prominent alternative belief promoter influenced her daughter to reject chemotherapy in support of unconventional therapies, which eventually led to her death, a medical examiner has concluded.
Paloma Shemirani, from East Sussex, succumbed in summer last year - seven months after she was identified lymphatic cancer.
Therapy Selection
The 23-year-old had rejected chemotherapy in favor of natural beverages and alternative cleansing methods promoted by her mother, Kate Shemirani, a previous medical worker who was deregistered for her vaccine-skeptical views.
Medical examiner Catherine Wood remarked at the official inquiry on Thursday: "The persuasion that was exerted on Paloma... was a factor more than minimally to her passing."
Non-Medical Therapy
After her diagnosis in winter 2023, Ms Shemirani relocated with her mother and began having multiple coffee treatments a day, based on statements from her siblings.
In July 2024, she collapsed at home and was transported to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in the coastal city, where she passed away several days later.
"In my career I haven't encountered a lymphoid mass like hers in over four decades of medical work," reported an osteopath who saw Ms Shemirani on the occasion she was hospitalized.
Medical Findings
Ms Wood determined that Ms Shemirani passed away due to the advancement of a medical condition which was treatable but without proper medical care.
She further stated that treatment would have given Ms Shemirani an eighty percent chance of a complete cure.
The educated individual had originally agreed to treatment, the investigator stated, adding that "doubts about consent only surfaced after Mrs Shemirani became engaged."
Parental Impact
The coroner said Ms Shemirani was being affected by her own opinions, her mother's, her father's and by those of a close acquaintance - all who promoted the alternative treatment she practiced.
"I concluded the parent's approach to her daughter difficult to understand but not criminal," Ms Wood stated.
Ms Shemirani's mother tried to blame medical staff for her daughter's death and has in the past described chemotherapy as "toxic substance".
Court Determinations
Staff at the medical facility, where Ms Shemirani was diagnosed, the Brighton hospital and emergency responders all acted appropriately, the inquest concluded.
None of her mother or her father - alternative practitioner Faramarz Shemirani - attended the official ending of the inquest.
Sibling Statements
Her brothers, Gabriel and Sebastian Shemirani, were present and said the state had "fallen short" by not classing their sister's death as an criminal act, despite admitting a breach in their mother's obligation to protect.
Gabriel told the investigation: "I hold responsible my mother entirely for my sister's death", adding she had been "obstructing" his sister from receiving treatment.
The official noted the "remarkable" domestic problems, which she said had been "evident to all" during the inquest.
"The interactions within the household members were difficult and problematic at the time of Paloma's death," she stated.