The death of actor Matthew Perry, known for his role as Chandler Bing in the series “Friends”, gained new developments this Thursday (10). According to authorities, Perry received a “high dose” of ketamine from a doctor days before his fatal overdose, which occurred in October last year.
Dr. Salvador Plascencia, 42, and another doctor, Mark Chavez, are among those accused of supplying the actor with the drug. In addition to them, Perry’s personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, alleged drug lord Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles,” also face charges related to the scheme.
According to the indictment, Plascencia and Chavez made thousands of dollars selling bottles of ketamine to Perry, a drug that can be purchased for as low as $12. Plascencia, who had a license to prescribe and administer the tranquilizer, would have taken advantage of the actor’s history of drug abuse to profit from his addiction.
Messages exchanged between Plascencia and Iwamasa revealed contempt for the actor. In one of them, Plascencia would have joked: “I wonder how much this idiot will pay” for ketamine, while Perry was in a state of emotional fragility.
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About 16 days before Perry’s death, the actor suffered a severe reaction after receiving a high dose of the drug, which caused his blood pressure to skyrocket and left him paralyzed. After the episode, Plascencia warned Iwamasa: “We are not going to do it again.”
In the final five days of Perry’s life, Iwamasa, who had worked with the actor since 1994 and lived with him, would have administered at least 27 doses of ketamine, three of which, according to prosecutors, would have caused “serious injury and death” to the actor.
Matthew Perry had been undergoing ketamine treatment for depression at a clinic, but when doctors refused to increase the dose, the actor turned to Plascencia to get more of the drug. Between September and the day of his death, on October 28, Perry allegedly paid about $55,000 in cash for 20 bottles of ketamine provided by Plascencia and Chavez.
Plascencia, who, according to international media, aimed to become Perry’s exclusive drug supplier, also instructed Iwamasa to administer the tranquilizer, even though the assistant did not have any medical training. The doctor reportedly sold another $6,000 worth of ketamine to Iwamasa, aware that Perry’s addiction was proving fatal.
Authorities believe the final dose, responsible for Matthew Perry’s death, was provided by Jasveen Sangha, who ran a “drug warehouse” and was already facing other charges of possession and distribution of methamphetamine and ketamine.
Plascencia and Sangha were indicted for conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Plascencia still faces seven other charges related to the distribution of the drug and two for falsifying documents. Fleming, Iwamasa and Chavez accepted a plea deal confessing to participating in the ketamine distribution scheme, including conspiracy that resulted in death. The case remains under investigation.
