[1][2] Richmond was born in London to Cedric Ivor Smith, an Anglo-Indian civil servant, and Kathleen (née Meeson), a secretary.
[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] 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).
[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.