2 Jul 2021
Self-described herbalist Warwick Seymour-Hamilton, struck off in 1994, has had his latest bid to be reinstated denied.
Joshua Silverwood
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Image © Chinnapong / Adobe Stock
A self-described herbalist and former vet who was struck off in 1994 has seen his ninth attempt to be restored to the RCVS register denied.
Warwick Seymour-Hamilton was removed after a 1993 RCVS investigation found his Orpington practice “showed a total disregard of basic hygiene and care for animals, and was such as to bring the profession into disrepute”.
In his most recent request to be restored, Mr Seymour-Hamilton argued that his discovery of a new form of herbal antibiotic, supposedly able to immediately cure COVID-19, would be impossible to fully implement unless he is reinstated.
The committee heard how Mr Seymour-Hamilton claimed to have spent the past 27 years researching herbal medicine and its supposed ability to produce antibiotics, his claims that he was able to keep up with 27 years of veterinary developments online, and his demands that the prime minister allows him to test his new cure on six patients dying of coronavirus.
The committee also examined incidents in which Mr Seymour-Hamilton was said to have employed a minor while conducting research in Greece, claimed to have cured him of an infection using his new form of antibiotics, and spayed two cats in Calais despite having been struck off decades previously.
Mr Seymour-Hamilton had previously applied to be restored to the register in 1995, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, all of which were rejected.
The main concern of the committee was the possibility that Mr Seymour-Hamilton could return to clinical practice if reinstated, despite his protests that it was not his intention to do so.
Addressing the panel, Mr Seymour-Hamilton said: “I keep on appearing before you due to the discoveries I have made while not being a vet.
“As a result of a deadly prostate infection, I had to find a new antibiotic as soon as possible. It’s been a full-time job; I’ve travelled 136,000 miles across Europe looking for new plants and testing them on myself, which I think is very brave, but the RCVS hasn’t noted this.
“You don’t lose these [veterinary] skills – I can still do a spay, I can still do a rectal on a cow. I used to operate on thousands of cats. Can I operate now? Yes. But this committee would probably be aghast.”
Responding to the claims, RCVS barrister Nicole Curtis said: “At your last hearing you said that when you went to Calais you spayed more than one cat and found it ‘helpful and fun’.”
Mr Seymour-Hamilton denied that he had spayed more than one cat and said: “The doctor at the French practice, more or less as a sort of joke, wanted to know if I could still do it.
“They would have not allowed someone who was struck off to spay a cat if it was against the law. The French do breathe a different air than we do.”
The hearing went over multiple incidents throughout Mr Seymour-Hamilton’s time since he had been removed from the register, which also involved intentionally seeking to catch coronavirus on two separate occasions to prove his remedy would be able to cure the virus.
The committee also heard how the former vet had driven back through Europe to the UK as the continent was going into lockdown, only to arrive back in Orpington where he made efforts to visit COVID‑19 hotspots to contract the virus.
Mr Seymour-Hamilton told the committee he wanted to see if he could be infected with the virus twice after having supposedly cured it once using his plant-based remedies.
He said: “It is not irresponsible to want to find that out. That’s my professionalism and ability to do the job. I left it two months without treatment. I’m never doing that again. Long COVID is hell.”
Ms Curtis, questioning part of a statement Mr Seymour-Hamilton submitted to the committee prior to his hearing, read aloud a portion in which he claimed to have written to the prime minister demanding to be allowed to test his remedies on six patients dying of coronavirus.
Mr Seymour-Hamilton said: “When I came back to England thousands were dying. I could do a trial, but I need the prime minister’s permission. I’ve written to him 13 times and he’s never replied. Now those patients are dead. Who was right, then? I’m an expert, yet no [hospital] trust will go ahead with my work. They’ll tell me they’re not doing it, and now all their patients are dead.”
After a period of deliberation, the committee decided not to restore Mr Seymour-Hamilton to the register, citing his 27 years outside of the profession with no evident CPD or willingness to accept the findings of previous hearings.
Mr Seymour-Hamilton has vowed to continue his research.
