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A well-known conspiracy theorist convinced her daughter to decline chemotherapy in favor of non-traditional approaches, which finally led to her demise, a investigating official has determined.

Paloma Shemirani, from Uckfield, succumbed in mid-year last year - seven months after she was found to have non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Treatment Decision

The 23-year-old had rejected chemotherapy in preference of liquid diets and coffee enemas promoted by her mother, Kate Shemirani, a former nurse who was struck off for her anti-vaccination opinions.

Medical examiner Catherine Wood stated at the judicial proceeding on Thursday: "The persuasion that was brought to bear on Paloma... played a role more than minimally to her demise."

Alternative Treatment Regimen

After her diagnosis in winter 2023, Ms Shemirani relocated with her mother and began having daily alternative therapies a day, based on statements from her family members.

In mid-2024, she fell ill at home and was taken to the healthcare center in Brighton, where she passed away several days later.

"In my career I haven't encountered a tumor like hers in 43 years of medical work," stated an osteopath who saw Ms Shemirani on the occasion she was hospitalized.

Official Conclusions

Ms Wood determined that Ms Shemirani passed away due to the progression of a disease which was curable but left untreated.

She further stated that treatment would have given Ms Shemirani an eighty percent chance of a successful treatment outcome.

The university educated woman had initially consented to treatment, the coroner said, adding that "uncertainty about agreement only surfaced after her mother became engaged."

Relative Pressure

The investigator said Ms Shemirani was being influenced by her own opinions, her mother's, her father's and by those of a close acquaintance - all who promoted the non-medical approach she practiced.

"I found the parent's approach to her daughter difficult to understand but not illegal," Ms Wood declared.

Ms Shemirani's mother attempted to fault hospital workers for her daughter's death and has in the past described chemotherapy as "mustard gas".

Investigation Conclusions

Medical personnel at the medical facility, where Ms Shemirani was diagnosed, the Brighton hospital and emergency responders all responded correctly, the official inquiry determined.

Not one of her parents - alternative practitioner Faramarz Shemirani - were present at the official ending of the inquest.

Relative Reactions

Her male relatives, Gabriel and Sebastian Shemirani, did attend and said the state had "fallen short" by not designating their sister's death as an unlawful killing, despite acknowledging a failure in their mother's duty of care.

Gabriel stated to the inquest: "I hold responsible my mother entirely for my sister's death", adding she had been "preventing" his sister from obtaining medical care.

The investigator noted the "remarkable" family dysfunction, which she said had been "evident to all" during the investigation.

"The interactions within the household members were complex and dysfunctional at the time of Paloma's death," she stated.