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Matthew Perry's Death: 5 Including Doctors And His Assistant Get Charged; Authorities Reveal Exploitation of Actor's Addiction
Five individuals, including doctors and Perry's assistant, face charges in the actor's death from acute effects of ketamine. Authorities allege they exploited his addiction for personal gain.
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to drug addiction
Five people, including Matthew Perry's live-in assistant and two doctors, have been charged in the Friends actor's untimely demise from acute effects of ketamine, a controlled surgical anesthetic, on October 28 last year. The doctors exploited Perry's history of addiction in the final months of his life to provide him with ketamine in amounts they knew were dangerous, said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada on Thursday, August 15, as he announced the charges.
“They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said, adding, “They knew what they were doing was risking great harm to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway.”
Perry was injected with several doses of the drug by his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, on the day he died, according to AP News. Iwamasa was the one who found the actor unconscious in his jacuzzi later that day and was the first person to speak with investigators, per numerous prior media reports.
ALSO READ: Throwback: When Matthew Perry Said He Wanted To Be Remembered Beyond Friends
Perry had been receiving regular ketamine infusion treatment for depression from his regular doctors in amounts not sufficient to cause his death. His regular doctors were not among those charged, authorities said.
Estrada said that they are not talking about legitimate ketamine treatment, adding, "We are talking about two doctors who abused the trust they had, abused their licenses, and put another person's life at risk.”
According to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, in one instance, the actor paid $2,000 for one vial of ketamine that cost one of the physicians only $12. The attorney further informed that the actor spent about $55,000 in cash in the two months before his death.
Two individuals, including one of the charged doctors, were arrested on Thursday, according to Estrada. Additionally, two defendants, including Iwamasa, have already pleaded guilty, and a third has agreed to do so.
Among those arrested is Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who faces seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two charges related to allegations that he forged records after Perry's death. He pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday and can be released after posting a $100,000 bond.
Plasencia's attorney asked the court to permit his client to continue seeing patients upon his release, arguing he had already surrendered his DEA license to prescribe dangerous drugs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian V. Yanniello objected to the request, per AP News, saying the medical practitioner “essentially acted as a street-corner drug dealer” in Perry's case. Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar, however, ruled in Plasencia’s favor, allowing him to see patients only after getting them to sign a document stating they had been informed of the charges against him.
Another person arrested in the case on Thursday was Jasveen Sangha, whom the prosecution described as a drug dealer known among her customers as the Ketamine Queen. Her attorney dismissed the title, stating it was created for media consumption. Authorities claim ketamine supplied by Sangha caused Perry's death.
Sangha pleaded not guilty and was denied bond. She was first arrested for possession of ketamine with intent to distribute in March but was released on bond, with authorities keeping Perry's involvement quiet.
Plasencia could face 120 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said, and Sangha could face life in prison.
Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician from San Diego, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine, as prosecutors allege he funneled the drug to Plasencia after securing it from a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription.
Erik Fleming, the final defendant in the case, has pleaded guilty to obtaining the drug from Sangha and delivering it to Iwamasa. Overall, he delivered 50 vials of ketamine for Perry's use, including 25 handed over four days before the actor's death.
Perry's struggles with addiction date back to his time on Friends, which ran for 10 seasons on NBC between 1994 and 2004. He starred in the fan-favorite sitcom alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc.
If you know someone who is struggling with substance abuse, please reach out to the authorities and report it. There are several helplines available for the same.
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