NZ Skeptics Articles

Gerson Therapy strikes again

Katrina Borthwick - 13th October 2025

Earlier this month the UK Coroner ruled that British health blogger Kate Shemirani, who promoted conspiracy theories, had “adversely influenced” her daughter, Paloma Shemirani, to refuse chemotherapy, causing her death from cancer on the 24th of July 2024.

While it is very heartening to see a Coroner step up and make such a clear ruling, it is disappointing to see that Gerson Therapy is still claiming lives.

Apple Cider Reruns

In February I wrote about an Australian mini-series, Apple Cider Vinegar, released on Netflix that dramatised the true story of Australian Belle Gibson. She was a wellness influencer who falsely claimed to have cured her terminal brain cancer through diet and alternative medicine. She released an app, and later a recipe book, called The Whole Pantry, and pocketed $300K in donations meant for charity.

In that series Alycia Debnam-Carey plays Milla Blake, who is Bell’s arch nemesis, and a character clearly inspired by the real-life Australian wellness influencer Jessica Ainscough. Ainscough, who ran The Wellness Warrior blog, was diagnosed with cancer at 22, and it was recommended that she amputate her entire arm. Instead, she tried chemo perfusion therapy on her arm, and when that didn’t work she chose to treat her cancer with Gerson Therapy. Perhaps for legal reasons, this was called ‘Hirsch’ therapy in the series.

Her mother also used Gerson therapy to treat her breast cancer, but sadly it didn’t work and both women, their fictionalised and their real-life versions, died of their cancer. Jessica died in 2015.

Jessica and Sharyn Ainscough

Gerson Therapy

Max Gerson developed Gerson therapy in the 1920s and 30s to cure his migraine headaches, and he ‘naturally’ went on to use it to treat other diseases such as tuberculosis and cancer.

The therapy includes a strict organic vegetarian diet made up of fruit and vegetables (lots of juicing), vitamin and mineral supplements, and coffee or castor oil enemas (up to 5 a day). The theory is that the diet will rectify sodium and potassium levels and cleanse the liver, the vitamins will get rid of cancer cells, and the constant enemas are supposed to help to excrete toxins from the liver and colon. According to Cancer Research UK, the “scientific research does not support any of these claims.”

Charlotte Gerson, founder of the Gerson Institute, promoting the cancer therapy invented by her father at an alternative medicine fair in Los Angeles. Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 30, 1987

Paloma Shemirani

I managed to get hold of the coronial inquest concerning Paloma’s death, and it’s not pretty. I don’t recommend clicking through if you don’t want to see the medical details leading to her death.

From that document, it seems Paloma initially consented to the treatment offered by the hospital during her December 2023 admission, when a mass was discovered near her throat. She even consented to taking two drug treatments, Prednisolone and Rasburicase. The doubts about consent only surfaced after Kate Shemirani became involved, and the Coroner found that Kate “adversely influenced Paloma to come to the position that she had not consented when she had”.

Paloma also spent hours on the telephone to Dr Patrick Vickers in the USA, discussing the diagnosis and treatment options. Patrick Vickers was a former fiancé of Kate, with whom Paloma had been close. “Later in her evidence, [Kate] reluctantly said that he was not, in fact, a medical doctor, but a Chiropractor. He had run a Gerson therapy clinic in Mexico where members of the family, including Paloma, had previously stayed.” The Coroner was of the belief that Patrick Vickers may have urged Paloma to undergo Gerson therapy rather than chemotherapy at this time. Vickers did not respond to the Court’s efforts to contact him.

Patrick Vickers

Dr. Patrick Vickers was the founder and director of Northern Baja Gerson Center. He is described in his podcast bios as doing his work “managing the world’s premier clinic for the natural treatment of cancer and advanced diseases” – and “having an approach that is cutting-edge holistic medicine known as Advanced Gerson Therapy”. Dr. Vickers is a New York Chiropractic College graduate and a direct student of Charlotte Gerson, the founder of the Gerson Institute and the daughter of Max Gerson.

According to his bio, following his training he opened chiropractic and Gerson clinics in Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico and, in 2008, a non-profit organisation dedicated to educating the public on Gerson Therapy (not self serving at all!). He currently travels the world, lecturing at international embassies, Latin American medical schools, and other venues…

In this episode, Dr. Patrick Vickers, a leading expert on Gerson Therapy, shares his inspiring journey and the science behind the healing protocol. He discusses the powerful impact of coffee enemas and Gerson Therapy in addressing chronic diseases, particularly cancer, and the scientific principles that support their effectiveness. Dr. Vickers also dives into the challenges of bringing Gerson’s work to light and the profound benefits of detoxification in restoring health.

So, the daughter of his ex-fiancé died just 9 days after that video went up, and he just left that up there… I guess he didn’t read the room.

Kate Shermani

Paloma’s mother, Kate Shemirani (whose real name is Kay) is indeed a British conspiracy theorist, as pointed out by the Coroner. Add to that she is an anti-vaccine activist who lost her licence to practice. I found the Nursing and Midwifery Council findings. They had this to say:

“Mrs Shemirani’s misconduct was of the utmost seriousness and was not a one-off incident. In the panel’s view, she has embarked upon a calculated course of conduct, intending to cause distress, panic and alarm amongst the general population, as well as being offensive to the nursing and healthcare profession. Mrs Shemirani has used her platform … to promote her own propaganda and encourage people to act contrary to public health guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic. The panel was satisfied that Mrs Shemirani has deep-seated attitudinal issues.”

She also has strong views on 5G technology and according to her she is a “natural nurse in a toxic world” who is “spreading the word, not the disease”. She is in the first 50 seconds of the following video where she denies there’s a pandemic at all - it gives you a good feel for her manner:

Digging deeper

The coronial inquest has a few details in it that don’t seem to have been picked up by the media.

At one point it is clear they were planning on monitoring the progress of Paloma’s cancer through blood tests, as part of the Gerson therapy. The GP made it clear this would not be reliable, and the Coroner thinks Paloma understood this but says she “came to believe that she was not suffering lymphoma or cancer; when questioned, [Kate] was reluctant to say, in a straightforward way, whether she did or did not accept Paloma’s diagnosis and I find, again, that her thinking on this matter adversely influenced Paloma’s”.

Later there is reference to Kate saying she had Power of Attorney and was seeking access to Paloma’s records, so that she could obtain second opinions from doctors abroad. This had been noted as there was an earlier record of Paloma alleging physical abuse by her mother. Say what?

But wait, there’s more. Paloma’s twin brother, Gabriel Shermani, gave evidence in the case of his concerns around his mother’s coercive influence. In February 2024 he made a safeguarding referral to local social services, resulting in Paloma being contacted by a social worker - but she would not cooperate.

So, not satisfied, in April 2024 Gabriel went further and issued High Court proceedings in which Paloma and [Kate] were the Respondents. He was seeking a medical treatment order so that Paloma could receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy and be treated for her lymphoma. Neither his mother or sister cooperated, and his sister died in July before the case could proceed.

As part of the coronial inquest a document was surfaced that appeared to be preparing for the court case, titled, “PSS Tactical Lawfare Action Plan”, in which her lawyer suggested a tactical approach which included making complaints about the barrister, making complaints to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office about (and then seeking the recusal of) the judge, disputing the jurisdiction of the court, and making complaints to the police and the General Medical Council. This can only have been a delay tactic, and curiously Paloma’s mother said she did not recognise this document in the coronial inquest…

The findings of the inquest speak for themselves:

I do find that Paloma’s death whilst, from a natural disease, could and should have been avoided and, given my findings in relation to the adverse influences which affected Paloma’s decision making, I am unable to conclude with a Natural Causes conclusion. As this is a not an inquest in which Article 2 is engaged, I am required to be brief, neutral and factual in the findings which are recorded on the Record of Inquest.

…

I shall, therefore, record the following on the Record of Inquest:

Paloma Shemirani was 22 years old when she was found to have a bulky mass in her mediastinum … Following biopsy, she was diagnosed with high-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December of 2023. … She was advised urgently to commence chemotherapy which had an 80% chance of curing her disease. …However, she self-discharged on the 24th December 2024, indicating that she wanted to consider her treatment options. …The Deceased returned to live at her mother’s home where, from January 2024 onwards, she pursued a regime of Gerson therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and cranial osteopathy. The therapies were not, individually or in combination, capable of treating her lymphoma. Although she remained under the care of her General Practitioner, the progress of her disease, including the growth of the mass, was not monitored because she declined to have a further scan.

…

[She] died as a result of the progress and effects of a naturally occurring disease which was curable but which was not treated. The Deceased refused treatment which would have given her an 80% chance of complete cure, with a greater chance of survival from other treatments if required. She had mental capacity in relation to this decision making but was highly influenced in this regard, by others, at a time of real vulnerability.

Scientific evidence

I had a bit of a dive into the evidence for Gerson therapy. It was a very quick dive, as there really isn’t much there apart from perhaps an indication that eating fruit and veggies might have some health benefits - depending on what you were eating before the treatment. But it won’t cure cancer.

There is the ‘research’ of Gerson himself, including detailed reports of the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of 50 of his patients with various types of cancer. The reports include Dr. Gerson’s notes, with some X-rays of the patients over time. The follow-up contact with patients was by mail or phone, and included anecdotal reports.

In 1947 and 1959 the National Cancer Institute (NCI) reviewed the cases of a total of 60 patients treated by Dr. Gerson. The NCI found that the available information did not prove the regimen had benefit.

The NCI nicely summarises the studies of the Gerson therapy for prospective patients. The key studies are as follows:

No results of laboratory or animal studies have been published in scientific journals. Reports of three deaths that may be related to coffee enemas have been published.

The journal Integrative Cancer Therapies (ICT) comments on the final piece of research in that list – the case studies of the 6 patients. The ICT is a peer-reviewed open access journal which focuses on a comprehensive model of integrative cancer treatment, with an emphasis on scientific understanding of alternative and traditional medicine therapies. Therapies like diets and lifestyle modifications, as well as experimental vaccines and chemotherapy, are the subject of this journal.

The ICT has said that there is almost no scientific support for the Gerson regimen. The case review study of six patients with metastatic cancer who used the Gerson therapy was aimed at critically evaluating each case, to derive some valid interpretations of its potential effect. It is a very small sample size, so caution needs to be used in concluding anything from it. All 6 cases had a cancer diagnosis with poor prognosis. The study says it does not rigorously prove or disprove anything, and says upfront that more scientific attention needs to be directed to this area so that patients can practice safe and appropriate therapies that are based on evidence rather than anecdotes. Despite this, this tiny study is often quoted as ‘evidence’.

The Cancer Council Australia has this to say:

“Gerson therapy is not a valid or effective treatment for cancer… Some aspects, such as eating lots of fruits and vegetables, can be healthy if not taken to extremes. Others, such as coffee enemas, could be potentially harmful as well as ineffective, leading to serious illness and potentially death.

In any case, removing toxins is a natural function of the liver and kidneys. Some antioxidant supplements can, contrary to popular belief, increase the odds of dying from cancer. To work out if something can actually treat cancer effectively, doctors run large randomised trials. This means that they compare people who receive the treatment with those who do not. No such studies have ever been done for Gerson therapy.”

So, with all this in mind, it is frustrating that people are still getting diverted from treatments that are actually likely to work.

And to add insult to injury, as a final parting gift I found an official Gerson Institute cost estimate (opens as a PDF). This doesn’t look like it was supposed to be found, and could be out of date by now. I note they recommend purchasing a second refrigerator to put the $1,200 worth of organic produce you are going to eat each month!