A German doctor has accused his Kenyan counterparts of witch-hunt and jealousy after they went to court to stop him from performing plastic and reconstructive surgery in the country.
Dr Tilman Stasch, in his response to an application by the Kenya Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, argued that he had performed more than 200 successful surgeries in Kenya since 2016 and that the case was only intended to defame and scandalise his reputation.
The court case has escalated the battle for the lucrative plastic and reconstructive surgeries, which have lately become popular in the country.
“The petition is perpetuated by malice and based on unfounded facts aimed at tainting my reputation as a highly qualified plastic, reconstructive, hand, and aesthetic surgeon. The allegations are scandalous and have no truth whatsoever,” said Stasch.
Denied licence
The Kenyan doctors took the battle with Stasch to court to stop the influx of foreign doctors into the country to perform plastic surgery.
The association through its officials, Stanley Khainga, Loise Kahoro, and Ferdinand Kangole, argued that there was enough personnel and expertise to perform the delicate procedures and that foreign doctors should be denied licences to operate in the country.
They accused foreign doctors of devising unethical methods to take advantage of Kenyans in need of plastic surgery, including marrying Kenyan women to enable them to acquire Kenyan citizenship.
“We have locally trained and qualified plastic surgeons in Kenya who need protection from the influx of many foreign medical practitioners with questionable qualifications seeking to illegitimately benefit from Kenyans seeking their services,” said Prof Khainga.
The association wants the court to stop Aga Khan University Hospital from employing Stasch to perform plastic and reconstructive surgery, claiming he came to the country as a conference assistant but slowly evolved into a fully-fledged surgeon.
“We feel that the employment of the foreign doctors in our leading private hospitals on account of misrepresentation of false experience is a threat to the medical profession and a violation of consumers’ right to qualified surgeries,” said Khainga.
But Stasch argued that his peers were jealous of the opportunity he got at the hospital and want to spoil his name.
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