Caroline Richmond

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Caroline Richmond (1941-2023) was a British medical journalist and writer. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Richmond was born in London to Cedric Ivor Smith, an Anglo-Indian civil servant, and Kathleen (née Meeson), a secretary. [3]

Richmond struggled academically and was expelled from Richmond County School for Girls due to disciplinary issues. [4] At age 16, Richmond began working as a laboratory assistant while studying for A-levels at night school. [4] She pursued a degree in zoology at Sir John Cass College in London (now part of London Metropolitan University), which was interrupted by a nervous breakdown. [4] Despite these challenges, she completed her zoology degree at Portsmouth Technical College and earned a master's degree in animal physiology from Birkbeck College, London. [3] She began a PhD in neuroscience at University College London but did not complete it due to discrepancies in experimental results with a colleague. [4]

Career

Richmond began her career by freelancing for the New Scientist and later worked for a start-up publishing company in Lancaster. [4]

In the late 1980s, Richmond became the UK correspondent for the Canadian Medical Association Journal and contributed to television programs and books. [4] She also created a satirical leaflet in 1988 under the pseudonym DRAB — The Dye-Related Allergies Bureau, a subsidiary of the Food Additives Research Team (FART). [3]

Richmond was involved in the ethical debates surrounding medical consent to treatment. [4] In 1992, she underwent surgery to remove the lining of her womb, but the surgeon, Ian Ferguson, removed her ovaries and womb without her consent. [4] She complained to the General Medical Council, and although the surgeon was cleared of misconduct, the case led to changes in guidelines for informed patient consent. [4]

Richmond co-authored the book Insulin Murders (2007) with Vincent Marks, a professor of biochemistry at Surrey University. [3]

In November 2022, Richmond was made an honorary member of the Medical Journalists' Association for her work with HealthSense. [4] Despite suffering from normal pressure hydrocephalus, she continued to lobby on various health issues. [4] She successfully persuaded the Royal Horticultural Society to rename a rose in her garden from "Mortimer Sackler" to "Mary Delany." [4]

Bibliography

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References

  1. ↑ Illman, John (January 25, 2024). "Caroline Richmond: formidable science journalist, quack busting campaigner, and obituarist". BMJ. 384: q163. doi:10.1136/bmj.q163 – via www.bmj.com.
  2. ↑ "Caroline Richmond: A woman of courage and passion". Medical Journalists' Association. January 12, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Times, The (March 13, 2024). "Caroline Richmond obituary" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Warren, Penny (January 17, 2024). "Caroline Richmond obituary" – via The Guardian.
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