Were you a friend of Friends?
If you were, Matthew Perry’s death at the age of 54 last October hit you hard. Perry had struggled with various addictions over the years and suffered from any number of drug-related health problems. So, when he was found “unresponsive” in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home, his death looked like just one more sad addition to the roster of celebrity drug deaths.
An autopsy revealed that a Ketamine overdose was the primary cause of Perry’s death. The actor had been receiving Ketamine infusion therapy – the surgery-strength anesthetic is used to treat pain and depression among other health issues – but that alone wouldn’t account for the massive amount of the drug found in Perry’s body.
Investigators went to work and, according to CNN, “uncovered an underground network of drug sellers and suppliers they allege are responsible for distributing the Ketamine.”
Five people have been charged as a result. Variety identified two medical doctors, a drug trafficker, Perry’s live-in assistant, and a drug “broker” who conspired to obtain Ketamine and sell it to Perry.
ABC News elaborated on the list of defendants: “Jasveen Sangha, 41, allegedly known as ‘The Ketamine Queen,’ and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a licensed medical doctor known as ‘Dr. P’...Perry's live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, who admitted in court documents to administering the Ketamine on the day that Perry died; Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, a licensed medical doctor who admitted in court documents to selling Ketamine to Plasencia; and Eric Fleming, 54, who admitted in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry.”
What’s truly heartbreaking about this case is that one of the doctors texted, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
Newsweek states that the group distributed 20 vials of Ketamine to Perry for $55K in cash - with Perry allegedly paying doctors $2K for a $12 vial of Ketamine before his fatal overdose in October.
USA Today quotes Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California: "The defendants in this case knew what they were doing was wrong...[Ketamine] is a drug that must be administered by medical professionals, and the patient must be monitored closely. That did not occur here...These defendants tried to cover up what they did."
Estrada concluded: "These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves.”
Perry rose to fame as “Chandler Bing” on Friends. The series ran for a decade on NBC and is widely regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms in the history of the small screen.
