Conspiracy theorist contributed to her daughter's death, coroner finds

A woman who died after refusing chemotherapy that doctors believed would have given her a strong chance of recovery was "adversely influenced" by her conspiracy theorist mother, a coroner has found.

- Kevin Rawlinson

Paloma Shemirani died aged 23 in July last year after refusing conventional treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Yesterday, her inquest's coroner said the influence of her parents, Kay and Faramarz Shemirani, had "more than minimally" contributed to her death.

"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," Catherine Wood told Maidstone coroner's court.

She said Kay Shemirani "took a leading role in advising Paloma in respect of and facilitating access to alternative treatments". She 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."

An NHS doctor told the inquest into Paloma's death she had been concerned Kay had influenced her daughter's refusal of cancer treatment. Arunodaya Mohan, a consultant haematologist at Maidstone hospital, said she had recommended steroids and a PET (positron emission tomography) scan, adding that Paloma had "nodded in agreement".

At the time of her diagnosis, doctors at Maidstone hospital told Paloma she had an 80% chance of recovery through chemotherapy.