Overview
- Coroner Catherine Wood found that parental influence from Kay and Faramarz Shemirani "more than minimally" contributed to 23-year-old Paloma Shemirani’s death after she rejected treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Clinicians at Maidstone Hospital told Paloma in December 2023 that chemotherapy offered about an 80% chance of cure, but she pursued a strict diet, juices and multiple daily coffee enemas promoted at home.
- A pathologist reported a tumour of about 17cm that distorted vessels and airways; Paloma collapsed on 19 July 2024 and died five days later at Royal Sussex County Hospital.
- The coroner declined to record unlawful killing, called the mother’s conduct "incomprehensible," rejected attempts to blame medical staff, and said Paloma probably would have survived with chemotherapy.
- Paloma’s brothers denounced the outcome as a failure of the state, her mother disputed the findings and blamed responders, and two medical witnesses were referred to the General Medical Council over unreliable evidence.