Five people, including two doctors, have been charged in connection with the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry after a ketamine overdose last year, authorities announced on Thursday.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction problems to enrich themselves,” explained federal prosecutor Martin Estrada.
The actor, who played Chandler Bing in the cult series, died in October 2023 due to the “acute effects” of ketamine use. He was found unconscious in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home.
This anesthetic, sometimes misused for its stimulating or euphoric effects, was being administered to the actor under supervision as part of therapy sessions for depression. However, the comedian “relapsed into addiction in the fall of 2023,” according to Mr. Estrada.
Among the accused are his personal assistant, two “unscrupulous” doctors, and a dealer known in Hollywood as the “ketamine queen.”
The doctors allegedly provided approximately 20 vials of ketamine illegally to Mr. Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash within just two months, according to Mr. Estrada.
One of them, Salvador Plasencia, faces up to 120 years in prison.
“Exploitation”
This 42-year-old doctor “knew what he was doing was harming Mr. Perry,” insisted the prosecutor. He reportedly told a patient that the actor was “spiraling out of control.”
He organized the “exploitation” of a sick individual, added Anne Milgram of the DEA, the federal drug agency. The ketamine vials cost the involved doctors about $12 but were sold to the actor for “$2,000.”
“I wonder how much this jerk is going to pay,” wrote Dr. Plasencia in a September 2023 text message, uncovered during the investigation. After Mr. Perry’s death, he “falsified medical records” to try to legitimize his actions, according to the prosecution.
The dealer at the center of the case, Jasveen Sangha, faces life in prison. This 41-year-old American-British woman sold the vial of ketamine that killed the actor.
During a search of her home, investigators found 80 vials of ketamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, vials of Xanax, and other medications obtained illegally.
The investigation revealed that one of her clients had already died of a ketamine overdose in 2019, according to Mr. Estrada.
The accused used code names among themselves to refer to this anesthetic, detailed the prosecutor. They referred to it as “Dr. Pepper” or “cans.”
With purple hair and a sweatshirt featuring the band “Nirvana,” Ms. Sangha pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles court on Thursday.
Her trial is set for October 15, during which she will remain in custody to prevent any risk of flight. According to the prosecution, this dealer regularly travels to Mexico and was on vacation in Tokyo two weeks after Matthew Perry’s death.
Mr. Plasencia, dressed in a shirt, also pleaded not guilty. He was released on $100,000 bail, with the obligation to inform his patients of the charges against him. His trial is scheduled for October 8.
The three other defendants are being prosecuted separately and have agreed to plead guilty.
Shock
The unexpected death of Matthew Perry at 54 shocked “Friends” fans and prompted a wave of tributes in Hollywood. His co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer said they were “totally devastated.”
A true cultural phenomenon, the series aired between 1994 and 2004, marking a generation of viewers with the antics of a group of joyful friends in New York.
But behind the scenes, Matthew Perry long hid his struggles behind his jovial Chandler persona. He had been battling addiction to medication and alcohol for years.
In his memoirs published in 2022, he revealed that he had undergone 65 detox sessions, spending over nine million dollars.
He also had several surgeries related to his drug addiction problems, including a seven-hour procedure on his colon in 2018, going so far as to say, “I should be dead.”
During a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor surprised the audience by admitting he had suffered from severe anxiety “every night” during the filming of “Friends.”
