Conspiracy theorist claims daughter died by medical gross negligence manslaughter
Paloma Shemirani, 23, collapsed on July 19 last year and was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital where she died five days later having earlier declined treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Her mother, Kay 'Kate' Shemirani, who rose to prominence on social media while sharing Covid -19 conspiracy theories, said her daughter 'deteriorated catastrophically' when paramedics intervened.
Ms Shemirani, who was involved in Paloma's 'alternative treatment' called her friend before calling an ambulance the day her daughter collapsed, the inquest at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone, heard.
On Wednesday, reading a prepared witness statement, she accused the inquest of 'attempting to shift focus' from the 'real' cause of Paloma's death.
'Any attempt to place responsibility on me is false – the people who need to be answering are those who failed to confirm diagnosis, administered drugs without her consent which could have damaged her heart,' said Ms Shemirani.
She claims that while in hospital in December 2023, Paloma was given medication without her consent and felt 'pressured and bullied' by medical staff.
'I became very suspicious and deeply concerned about what was happening,' Ms Shemirani told the coroner.
Paloma's twin brother Gabriel Shemirani suggests that when Paloma was first diagnosed, she was considering chemotherapy, before their parents started to pressure her against it.
Ms Shemirani was struck off as a nurse in 2021, having qualified in the 1980s and a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) committee found she had spread Covid-19 misinformation that 'put the public at a significant risk of harm'.
After her stay in hospital in December 2023, Paloma began an alternative treatment programme which included daily coffee enemas, a strict diet and green juices, the inquest heard previously.
'Paloma made her own treatment choices based on her values, research and experiences,' said Ms Shemirani.
She added that her daughter was 'never a victim of coercion' and that she 'continued to improve physically' under her alternative medicines.
'She was determined to get well on her own terms and this is well documented in her own high court statement which was read out in this coroner's hearing' said Ms Shemirani.
On the day she collapsed, she had an appointment with an osteopath, Nick Gosset, who described her on Wednesday as 'a young lady who was in the last stages of a very difficult disease' and said he advised she seek medical help.
Today, her mother disagreed saying: 'On the morning of July 19 Paloma was well.
'She looks healthy and good colour … she was smiling and laughing, she was not as described yesterday by the osteopath.'
Paloma collapsed at home later that day, and her mother called her friend who then called an ambulance while they initiated CPR.
On the 999 call played to the court, Ms Shemirani was heard shouting 'she's dying' to the operator before the paramedics arrived.
She also told the ambulance operator 'it's difficult to lie her on her front because she has a medicinal mass' in her throat, the inquest heard.
In her evidence, Ms Shemirani told the court that when the paramedics arrived they administered adrenaline 'then everything went horribly wrong' following their intervention and her daughter went into 'full circulatory collapse'.
'I knew at this point that they'd done something, given something that had caused this,' she said.
Ms Shemirani added: 'She deteriorated catastrophically upon their arrival and their intervention.'
Paloma was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton on a ventilator, and brain stem death was declared on the afternoon of July 24 2024 after a series of nationally advised medical checks.
Ms Shemirani said the decision taken was rushed and said that the brain stem testing was not the same in the UK as it was in the US, and wanted an MRI.
Intensivist and anaesthetist Dr Peter Anderson, who was on shift when Paloma died, explained: 'I thought the risk of deterioration and uncontrolled death was extremely high.'
Ms Shemirani said: 'We are deeply concerned this inquest is attempting to shift focus on the cause of death.'
Later she added: 'We believe this to be an attempt to pervert the course of justice and conceal the cause of Paloma's death.'
The inquest continues.
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The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
My sister choked to death on tumours after conspiracy mum told her to refuse treatment – she must be banned
WHEN devastated Gabriel Shemirani heard his twin sister Paloma had died, he could not believe it. He had been told months ago that the 23-year-old Cambridge graduate's cancer was curable — but she had refused life-saving chemotherapy after going to live with their anti-vaxxer mum. 7 7 In a doomed attempt to cure her non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Paloma, from Uckfield, East Sussex, had followed a bogus coffee-based treatment promoted by the Australian cancer faker Belle Gibson. Recalling the heartbreaking moment a friend told him his sister had died after choking on her tumours, Gabriel tells The Sun: 'That's the most difficult part, because you're trying to do everything in your brain to think it's not real, it's not true. 'And every time you utter the words to someone else, that 'Paloma is dead' it feels like you're being burned alive.' At an inquest in Maidstone, Kent, last week, Gabriel blamed his mother Kate Shemirani — a former NHS nurse — for the death of his sister. 'People are dying. This needs to stop' Kate, 59, was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in May 2021 after claiming that the Covid virus was a hoax. She wrote that 'the NHS is the new Auschwitz' and regularly posted messages on social media opposing chemotherapy. Now she is advertising herself as a 'natural nurse' on her website. Gabriel, 24, wants a change in the law to protect patients from medical misinformation. The economics and maths student says: 'I couldn't save my sister, but there's still time to save others. 'People are dying. This needs to stop. Mum sacrificed my sister for anti-vax views, says twin of woman who died after refusing chemo for 'treatable' cancer 'The law is so out-of-date that we can have a woman that's killed her daughter still claiming to be a nurse. 'I believe my sister was being coerced. It's conspiratorial coercion when you convince her the elites are going to kill them, big pharma's going to kill them, even the doctors at the hospital are going to kill them.' Gabriel's mother has been banned from Facebook, Instagram and TikTok but was reinstated on X after billionaire Elon Musk took over. She denies responsibility — and blames the paramedics who tried to save her daughter's life. A year after Paloma's death, Gabriel is still feeling the loss of his sister. He says: 'With a twin they've always been there by your side. 'There's so much that doesn't need to be said because you already understand it, — it's almost like you have your own language. We were incredibly close — at no point did we ever fall out.' Growing up together with two other siblings in a troubled household also strengthened their bond. I wasn't able to have any meaningful conversation with my sister because she was out of it. That was the last time I saw Paloma. Gabriel on sister Paloma Their Iranian father Faramarz believed in conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the US government blew up the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11. From the age of nine, his mother told him to stop using suncream, and a couple of years later banned the kids from drinking tap water. At the inquest, Gabriel also claimed that she had been 'emotionally distant' and physically abusive during his childhood. In 2012, Kate was diagnosed with cancer, which she survived after having a double mastectomy. But she credits her survival to alternative treatments, including the controversial Gerson therapy which involves taking coffee enemas. Belle Gibson, who was the subject of the Netflix drama Apple Cider Vinegar, promoted the fake Gerson 'cure' before it was revealed she did not have terminal brain cancer. Like Gibson, Kate became a wellness guru — and Gabriel says: 'I think she saw her way to get that attention she'd always craved.' When the pandemic began in 2020, Gabriel was the last sibling living at the family home, with his father having moved back to Iran after separating from Kate six years earlier. But he moved out, preferring to 'sofa surf' over being locked down with his mother — and he says he 'wasn't surprised' when her extreme views made headlines. During a protest in London's Trafalgar Square in 2021, Kate asked for the names of doctors and nurses to be sent to her, before warning: 'At the Nuremberg Trials, the doctors and nurses stood trial and they hung.' 7 Gabriel thought his sister was free of his mum's influence — but that all changed when Paloma was told she had cancer in late December 2023 and went to live back at home. Fearing that his sister wasn't going to accept the cancer treatment recommended by the NHS, Gabriel went to visit her on Christmas Day. He says he argued with his mum, adding: 'I wasn't able to have any meaningful conversation with my sister because she was out of it. That was the last time I saw Paloma.' Blocked from visiting, Gabriel sent messages begging Paloma to try chemotherapy. He received no response, so he took the extraordinary measure of trying to take his mum to the High Court, arguing that his sister was being 'coerced' by her. 'I don't talk to her, I have no feelings for her' Gabriel also asked social services to investigate, but claims they only spoke to Paloma on the phone while her mum was in the room. He says: 'For four or five months, I was living in constant fear that I was gonna get that phone call from someone saying my sister had died.' Unknown to him, his sister's condition was deteriorating rapidly. After collapsing at her mother's home on July 19 last year, Paloma was flown by air ambulance to the Royal Sussex County Hospital. Osteopath Nick Gosset, who assessed Paloma that day, told the inquest she was 'a young lady who was in the last stages of a very difficult disease, and she had declined to engage with conventional treatment.' The doctor 'had never seen anything like' the amount of growths going from her right shoulder to her neck during his 43 years in medicine. Five days later Paloma's life support machine was shut off, she had a heart attack as a result of the cancer. It would be another six days before Gabriel learned his sister had died. I think people like my mum should be regulated like a doctor should be regulated. If you are making medical claims, health claims, you should be held to account. Gabriel on his mother Kate Neither he nor his brother Sebastian were told about the funeral which took place in August last year. Gabriel says: 'She was cremated without our knowledge.' Now he no longer wants to have anything to do with 'that woman.' Gabriel, who calls his mum by her real name Kay, says: 'We're complete strangers. I don't talk to her — I have no feelings for her.' Kate's version of events is very different to the medical practitioners who treated Paloma. She claims on her blog that her daughter 'did not die of cancer' and was instead the victim of medical negligence. Kate says that paramedics should not have given Paloma adrenaline. On her website, she accuses the coroner of attempting to 'harass' her and 'acting unlawfully.' The former nurse also says that 'viruses and their transmission was invented' and that 5G masts were responsible for Covid. She offers one-hour consultations and branded vitamins for £75 a bottle through her website. The inquest is set to resume next week and take three days to conclude. Whatever verdict the coroner gives, this battle is not over for Gabriel. He is on a mission to properly regulate the ever-growing alternative medicine industry. Gabriel wants to prevent others relying on unproven treatments and has spoken out on the BBC's Panorama documentary Cancer Conspiracy Theories. He says: 'I think people like my mum should be regulated like a doctor should be regulated. 'If you are making medical claims, health claims, you should be held to account.' The global wellness industry is valued at over £5trillion and the authorities are struggling to challenge the countless over-inflated claims being made for natural remedies. Vitamins and a healthier diet can help cancer patients, but there is no scientific basis for claims that they are alternatives to proven treatments such as chemotherapy. Gabriel wants the Online Safety Act — designed to prevent children accessing harmful material and adults seeing illegal content — to also be used to stop medical misinformation. He says: 'Harmful but legal is still allowed for adults. These laws around promotion of treatments for cancer need to be changed.' Until then, 'natural nurse' Kate will continue to try to influence vulnerable patients hoping for a miracle cure. 7 7
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Mum from Essex wins settlement from NHS over newborn's care
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Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Mother-of-six battling cancer in 'nightmare' eviction fight as tenant who has taken over property with 10 dogs refuses to leave - delaying her chance to get life-saving treatment
A terminally ill mother-of-six is locked in a bitter eviction battle to remove a 'nightmare' tenant and his 10 dogs from her house. Kelly Eastland, 43, is battling stage-four breast cancer and said she must sell the house in order to pay for £60,000 pioneering therapy in Germany. However, a long-running court battle with her male tenant has left her unable to access the money tied up in the two-bedroom Cliftonville home in Kent. The mother claimed the tenant owes her more than £15,000 in rent, and has filled the property with at least 10 dogs - kept in such squalid conditions that animal urine and faeces reportedly soaked through the floor and caused ceiling damage. Mrs Eastland said she fears time is running out, and worries she will die before she is able to sell the home. 'It's been an absolute nightmare. It's just hopeless really. We've been trying to sell the house to raise money so I can have treatment,' she told the Daily Mail. 'We've been fighting in the courts since 2024, and in that time the cancer has been able to spread. The cancer has actually caused fluid to go around my lungs now.' The family - whose youngest child is only two - moved out of the home in April 2023 to rent a larger property for their six children. They began renting out the home to a man they met while on a dog walk, who moved in on a 12-month tenancy agreement. But when a kitchen ceiling in the basement flat under the home collapsed, a builder went round to discover multiple dogs were being kept upstairs - more than the four which had been declared - with animal urine believed to have soaked through the floor. Mrs Eastland and her husband's insurance claim was reportedly rejected because 'fouling by animals' was not covered under accidental damage. As the mother's cancer worsened and she started to explore alternative treatment options, she decided to sell the house, informing the tenant in March 2024. 'My only options in the UK are just to continue with some immunotherapy and some radiotherapy. They can't even really do an operation or anything,' she said. They quickly accepted a £125,000 offer, well below the house's valuation, in a desperate bid to raise the money fast. They then served the tenant with a Section 8 notice, declaring he had allowed their property's condition to significantly deteriorate. They went to court in December last year and were granted a possession order, allowing the tenant 14 days to move out. However, the mother said that after discovering the man had not provided his real name, the order was ruled invalid and dismissed by the court in February. Another eviction notice was then served, this time also citing the non-payment of rent. The mother fears time is running out as the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes and bones In May, the tenant filed a counter-claim which alleged the landlords had failed to sort multiple maintenance issues at the property. He claimed he had spent £5,000 fixing the bathroom floor, paid £1,200 to replace a bay window, and was living with a faulty boiler, leaking roof and no heating upstairs. In response, the court ordered an independent survey of the property, which took place last month. The report revealed the home was dirty and overrun with dogs, with at least 10 animals inside. One large dog 'charged' at the door of a bedroom, while another was described as 'overly aggressive'. 'In my opinion, there are too many dogs for the size of the dwelling and external spaces,' the surveyor wrote. 'There appear to be issues with control of the dogs and the ability of the tenants to look after the number of dogs present.' He said he could not confirm if the roof leak was ongoing, but noted staining on walls and ceilings consistent with water damage caused by a leak. He said he was provided no evidence to support the tenant's claim that the Eastlands refused to repair the bathroom, and that the bay window appeared not to be a new unit. The boiler was found to be 'operational', but due to the number of dogs, the surveyor was unable to access upstairs rooms to check whether the radiators worked. 'There was one dog in the front bedroom which was overly aggressive, and I did not feel the tenants had control of this particular dog,' he added. He also described more dogs downstairs and at least six upstairs, with four kept in cages. He noted the 'pungent smell of dogs, urine and faeces' and 'widespread damage and dirt ingrained to the walls, floors and woodwork' linked to the keeping of so many dogs - concluding the damage 'would constitute a breach of the tenancy on the tenant's part'. The Eastlands hope the surveyor's findings - along with the arrears - will be enough to secure another possession order at a hearing scheduled for next month. But the mother fears time is running out as the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes and bones. 'My husband can't work now because he's taking care of me fulltime, and because the tenant hasn't paid rent, we haven't been able to pay the mortgage because we have to rent the property we're living in now,' she said. 'The mortgage company are threatening repossession. 'It's a huge amount of stress. With having the children as well to look after, and then having treatment every two weeks.' Even if a new possession order is granted, Mrs Eastland worries it could be weeks before she is able to reclaim the house. 'Even if we win the possession order in September, we then have to wait another two weeks,' Mrs Eastland said. 'If he doesn't move out, then we have to apply for bailiffs.' After the original buyer pulled out, a company has agreed to take the house in its current state for £103,000 - £85,000 below its valuation. 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