Photo: Mike Pont/WireImage
Multiple people have been charged over Matthew Perry’s death — including the Friends star’s own assistant. Two doctors, a drug dealer, and an acquaintance of Perry’s have also been indicted after a ketamine overdose caused Perry to drown last October, the New York Times reported. Prosecutors say all five of those charged helped supply Perry, who had a history of addiction, with ketamine. Dr. Salvador Plasencia allegedly texted another doctor, Mark Chavez, about buying ketamine to sell to Perry on September 30, 2023. In the days after, prosecutors said Dr. Plasencia sold thousands of dollars of ketamine to Perry, injected him with amounts higher than the maximum recommended dose, and falsified records of his treatment. During one home visit, a dose administered by Dr. Plasencia allegedly caused Perry to “freeze up.” Then, on October 24, prosecutors say Perry’s acquaintance Erik Fleming bought 25 vials of ketamine from Jasveen Sangha, a dealer known as “the Ketamine Queen.” Fleming allegedly gave the drug to Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who prosecutors say administered at least 20 shots in the next four days, before Perry drowned on October 28.
TMZ first reported that at least one doctor and multiple others had already been arrested. Dr. Plasencia and Sangha are facing the most charges, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Sangha is also facing a methamphetamine charge from earlier this year, after a March raid on her North Hollywood home turned up nearly 2,000 meth pills along with 79 bottles of ketamine. She pleaded not guilty. Chavez, Fleming, and Iwamasa have all separately been charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
