A UK coroner has found that a 23-year-old woman died after being “adversely influenced” by her parents to refuse life-saving chemotherapy.
Paloma Shemirani rejected treatment that doctors say would have given her an 80% chance of complete recovery on the advice of her parents.
Her mother, Kate Shemirani, is a UK online personality and podcaster who rose to prominence for her strong anti-vaccine stance.
Inquest
In the UK, a coronial inquest is held when a person dies in circumstances that are “unnatural” or “violent,” or if the cause of death is unknown.
It is not the same as a court hearing, and a coroner cannot find someone guilty of a crime.
At the end of an inquest, the coroner may make recommendations to the Government or relevant agencies on ways to improve public health and safety.
Diagnosis
In December 2023, Paloma was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma — a bulky mass in her chest that was compressing major blood vessels.
Doctors at Maidstone Hospital told her chemotherapy gave her an 80% of survival. Her twin brother, Gabriel, told the inquest that at the time he had “no concerns that she would reject it.”
However, after consulting with her mother, Paloma discharged herself on Christmas Eve 2023, saying she wanted time to consider her options.
Paloma never returned for treatment, instead pursuing alternative therapies at her mother’s home.
The attempted treatments included Gerson therapy, which involves eating a vegetarian diet, drinking 13 glasses of juice every day, and enemas.
Paloma also underwent osteopathy, a treatment for bones and muscles.
The inquest heard Kate was “actively counselling” her daughter against the treatment doctors were proposing.
Gabriel said their mother had long held “radical conspiracy theories and views about medical treatment”.
At the time of her diagnosis, Paloma’s father also said she should not agree to any treatment in the hospital.
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“You must discharge urself now. You will politely say that you want to go home and think this thru for a few days,” he texted her.
High Court case
In April 2024, Gabriel began proceedings in the High Court, seeking an order to compel his sister to receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy for her lymphoma.
He believed Paloma was “prevented from exercising her capacity to decide freely” due to what he described as “the controlling and coercive influence” of their mother.
Gabriel wanted a judge to meet with Paloma as part of the proceedings, but she died before this could happen.
Death
On 19 July, Paloma collapsed shortly after being served dinner at her mother’s house.
Kate said she put her daughter in the recovery position and then phoned a friend for help. The coroner noted there was an “avoidable delay” of several minutes before an ambulance was called, though CPR was started beforehand.
Despite resuscitation efforts by paramedics, Paloma’s brain was irreversibly damaged during a 37-minute period of low oxygen flow. She was confirmed brain dead on 24 July, with life support withdrawn the following day.
Coroner’s findings
Coroner Catherine Wood found Paloma died from the progression of a disease which was curable but not treated.
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.
The coroner rejected accusations made by Paloma’s parents that her death was the fault of medical professionals, calling their “persistent pursuit of utterly groundless assertions as to the cause of death” during the inquest “reprehensible.”
Ultimately, the coroner ruled that the influence of Paloma’s parents “did contribute more than minimally to her death.”
However, the inquest did not find sufficient evidence to support a conclusion of unlawful killing. This finding would typically trigger a criminal prosecution.
Paloma’s brothers, Gabriel and Sebastian, told the BBC the coroner had “failed” by not classing their sister’s death as an unlawful killing.
Neither of her parents attended the conclusion of the coronial inquest.
