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Paloma Shemirani inquest, BBC podcast - terrifying conspiracy theorist case

17 replies

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 07/10/2025 18:02

Haven't seen a thread about this. Apologies if there has been one. I've just listened to the original podcast about this and the update after the inquest concluded a few days ago. Absolutely terrifying. This poor young woman grew up in a household which her brothers describe as dysfunctional and sometimes violent. Both her parents are conspiracy theorists. Her father appears to have a Ph.D. (god forbid that he is called Dr. because he is a medical doctor) and yet believes that 9/11 was an inside job. Her mother was a registered nurse (now struck off) but has for years made a living promoting various batshit alternative therapies and also alleging that traditional health practitioners and the pharmaceutical industry (probably also governments and anyone else who argues with her) are out to murder people through their conventional, evidence-based, peer reviewed medical treatments. She is on record talking about HCPs who collaborated with the Nazis being hanged after the war and stating that HCPs who treated patients with Covid and especially were involved in the rollout of the vaccine should go the same way.

This batshit couple have four children. Their two sons broke away for the sake of their own sanity a long time ago. I don't know what's happened with the younger daughter. Their older daughter, Paloma, appeared to have done the same. She was a very bright young woman - Cambridge graduate, just forging a new life after graduating - but then she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and in panic called her mother. She then refused all conventional cancer treatment, tried instead juicing, coffee enemas, cranial osteopathy etc etc and died some months later. Her mother now alleges that the NHS killed her by administering a novel drug when she was first diagnosed (invention, no evidence to support it) and by administering adrenaline to her when she was in cardiac arrest (standard treatment), she must have had latent TB (never diagnosed or treated or found at the post mortem Hmm ] and that she didn't have cancer (the PM showed that she had a huge mass in her chest which eventually pressed so hard on her airway that she couldn't breathe). Fortunately the Coroner refutes the mother's nonsense in full.

Here's the coroner's narrative verdict on the cause of death and the circumstances. file:///C:/Users/marga/Downloads/Shemirani-Findings-and-Conclusion.pdf

Here's the BBC podcast. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001mssm

So sad. I find conspiracy theorists absolutely terrifying.

OP posts:
Eyesopenwideawake · 07/10/2025 18:03

I heard one of her brothers talking to James O'Brien last week. Such a sad case.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 07/10/2025 18:07

The mother was diagnosed with breast cancer some years ago. She had an operation to remove the tumour but refused all chemo and radiotherapy after that. She did things like inject herself with mistletoe instead. She is adamant that it was her alternative treatments that got rid of the cancer. I am not an HCP but I would be more inclined to believe she had a very good surgeon and has been lucky. She didn't give her daughter the same chances.

OP posts:
BreakingBroken · 07/10/2025 18:20

I have an acquaintance with similar beliefs, and in “end of time” beliefs (France turmoil) and somehow Trump fits into all this a as great human being/Godly…

PrincessAnne5Eva · 07/10/2025 18:28

I hope they find the mother responsible somehow and stop her peddling this fucking shit. This “cure cancer naturally” horseshit advice from ‘healthcare professionals’ made
my DM refuse chemo. She survived 18 months post diagnosis before she died. DM cut off all of us for questioning her rejection of proper treatment and died alone. She had printouts from this woman’s website in the house when we cleared it. I can’t be sure she would still be here, but she had a very good prognosis initially and at least she would have not cut herself off from her family. This woman was peddling these lies for years before the NMC did anything. They need to act faster to stop these sort of scammers using nursing credentials to make themselves look credible.
My heart breaks for Paloma, and for her siblings having to navigate life without her.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 07/10/2025 18:33

I'm so sorry, @PrincessAnne5Eva. Flowers

Couldn't agree more. The woman is a menace.

OP posts:
TinkerbellStarbright · 07/10/2025 18:35

This is so sad as lymphoma is usually a very treatable cancer and it responds well to chemo. How sad that this happened

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 07/10/2025 18:36

I heard the original podcasts but haven't heard the update. It's heartbreaking to think about what happened to that poor young woman. I don't know how her parents can live with themselves.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 07/10/2025 18:37

PrincessAnne5Eva · 07/10/2025 18:28

I hope they find the mother responsible somehow and stop her peddling this fucking shit. This “cure cancer naturally” horseshit advice from ‘healthcare professionals’ made
my DM refuse chemo. She survived 18 months post diagnosis before she died. DM cut off all of us for questioning her rejection of proper treatment and died alone. She had printouts from this woman’s website in the house when we cleared it. I can’t be sure she would still be here, but she had a very good prognosis initially and at least she would have not cut herself off from her family. This woman was peddling these lies for years before the NMC did anything. They need to act faster to stop these sort of scammers using nursing credentials to make themselves look credible.
My heart breaks for Paloma, and for her siblings having to navigate life without her.

I'm so sorry about your mum @PrincessAnne5Eva. That sounds like it must have been incredibly difficult.Flowers

MrsFrumble · 07/10/2025 18:40

I’ve just finished listening too. Paloma’s brothers are amazing young men; having the courage not only to cut contact with their parents, but to then try and advocate for their sister and to speak out about what happened.

It’s tragic that after managed to somewhat distance herself from her mother, Paloma ended up back under her influence, but also completely understandable.

Fitzcarraldo353 · 07/10/2025 18:41

I'm so sorry @PrincessAnne5Eva . That must have been so hard for you. It's my worst nightmare actually as my 80 year old mother has fallen down conspiracy rabbit holes since Covid and I honestly don't know what she'd do if she were diagnosed with something like cancer. She had quite a bit to say about my SIL who went through Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment this year. I wouldn't be surprised if she followed this awful woman on social media too.

I listened to the podcast and it was heartbreaking. Her poor friends and brother who tried to help her.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 07/10/2025 18:54

MrsFrumble · 07/10/2025 18:40

I’ve just finished listening too. Paloma’s brothers are amazing young men; having the courage not only to cut contact with their parents, but to then try and advocate for their sister and to speak out about what happened.

It’s tragic that after managed to somewhat distance herself from her mother, Paloma ended up back under her influence, but also completely understandable.

It’s tragic that after managed to somewhat distance herself from her mother, Paloma ended up back under her influence, but also completely understandable.

Yes, I was thinking this too. It was a complicated situation. Paloma clearly didn't lack mental capacity but she was exposed to anti-medical sentiment all through her life. Her best friend said she often had sunburn because in spite of being very fair she believed sunscreen was unsafe (ironically, she thought it caused cancer). I was interested to hear the breast cancer doctor talking about how her own understanding of this kind of thing changed after she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm fortunate not to have face this, but it must be very frightening. Of course people google, and the very dry but reliable stuff is not always going to be what they turn to. When a quack/grifter tells you with total confidence that their treatment is guaranteed to cure you, if you're terrified, maybe that's something so reassuring that you turn to that instead of the NHS saying accurately but unemotionally 'People who take x treatment have y% chance of surviving for 5 years. Here is a long list of side effects you may have.'

OP posts:
milkandblackspiders · 07/10/2025 19:07

An awful thing about this case is that loads of people still believe the mothers conspiracy theories despite the death of Paloma and the coroners conclusion. I saw a Facebook post about this and it was full of people saying that chemotherapy never cures anything and its all a big pharma conspiracy, and that Paloma was killed by the NHS.

ButterPiesAreGreat · 07/10/2025 19:09

Been following this for a while. She was effectively estranged from her parents like her brothers but she called her mum after diagnosis and they swept in. What she did to her own daughter was despicable and still she tried to blame the medical staff for it all.
I read in the papers that she tried to disrupt the inquest proceedings even though she attended virtually by putting up signs etc. The coroner threatened her with contempt of court at least once.

I completely do not get why you would try to use your own daughter to score points, and worse to let her die like that when her cancers were very treatable.

RegimentalSturgeon · 07/10/2025 19:18

The deceased was an adult, and evidently had capacity. 🤷

sleepwouldbenice · 07/10/2025 19:25

RegimentalSturgeon · 07/10/2025 19:18

The deceased was an adult, and evidently had capacity. 🤷

Well yes that's a narrow minded way of looking at it
But adding context..you really couldread about this more thoroughly. Her entire upbringing was overwhelmed by her parents extreme beliefs. Read what happened to her siblings, her boyfriend and about her mums online influencer position. And think how vulnerable she was with her diagnosis. The control was over several key years. She was an adult yes, but she certainly was coerced and manipulated to the extreme

sleepwouldbenice · 07/10/2025 19:32

milkandblackspiders · 07/10/2025 19:07

An awful thing about this case is that loads of people still believe the mothers conspiracy theories despite the death of Paloma and the coroners conclusion. I saw a Facebook post about this and it was full of people saying that chemotherapy never cures anything and its all a big pharma conspiracy, and that Paloma was killed by the NHS.

Yep I looked on her mother's Facebook yesterday
Lots of flat earthers peddling crap
I have no problem with holding the NHS, scientists and Big pharma Biscuit to account and they can very definitely do wrong. But that lot really believe anything. There was scaremongering about 15 min cities, "Them", ID cards etc being trotted out...

MrsFrumble · 07/10/2025 19:33

I think at her age, it was a completely natural instinct to want her mum after such a frightening diagnosis, even if they’d had a rocky relationship previously.

The fact that her mother didn’t even Paloma’s twin that she’d died illustrates how extremely controlling she (the mother) was.

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