UK woman who refused cancer drugs was influenced by mother, inquest finds

October 2, 2025

UK woman who refused cancer drugs was influenced by mother, inquest finds

Paloma Shemirani, 23, died after refusing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma despite doctors’ concerns

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

Paloma Shemirani died aged 23 in July 2024 after refusing conventional treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. On Thursday, the coroner in her inquest said the influence of her parents, Kay and Faramarz Shemirani, “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 a hearing at Kent and Medway coroner’s court in Maidstone.

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 Shemirani’s death she was concerned her mother, Kay, better known as the online influencer Kate Shemirani, 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, and 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.

The doctor said she spoke to Kay on the phone, saying she expressed several “concerns” about the proposed treatment. Alison Hewitt, counsel to the inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent, asked: “Were there concerns that Ms Shemirani was influencing Paloma?” Mohan replied: “That’s right.” Paloma later declined to have the treatment. And, when Mohan asked why, there did not seem to be a specific reason, the inquest heard.

Asked if she had questioned Paloma on whether her decision was influenced by anyone, Mohan said: “She was very confident that it was her own decision and she was not influenced.”

After graduating from Cambridge, Paloma was working and living in a flat with a housemate and was “estranged” from her mother until her cancer diagnosis.

Paloma went to live with her mother after leaving hospital. Asked if there was a change in Paloma’s attitude after her discharge, Mohan told the court: “Yes, I was quite concerned because at the time of the hospital she had not declined chemotherapy, she was just thinking about it, but after discharge she completely discharged the treatment, which I was quite disappointed about.”