Five Charged in Connection with Death of 'Friends' Star Matthew Perry, Two Arrested
Police have charged five people in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry, who died last October at his home in Los Angeles. Among the accused are two doctors and the actor's personal assistant, who are suspected of illegally supplying ketamine, ABC News reports.
Two of the defendants were arrested on Thursday: a doctor and a woman called the ‘Queen of Ketamine’ who is accused of selling Perry the ketamine that killed him.
Three others, including a second doctor and an assistant to the actor, have entered into plea deals on federal drug charges in connection with the death, the Justice Department said.
Matthew Perry's death has been ruled an accident, with coronary artery disease and the effects of other medications used to treat addiction contributing to the death alongside the ketamine overdose. According to the investigation, the ketamine found in Perry's blood was in such high concentrations that it led to his death.
Matthew Perry, who had a long history of struggling with addiction, was undergoing treatment with ketamine as a therapy, but his last session was more than a week before his death. Doctors noted that the amount of ketamine in his system exceeded the level typically used for general anaesthesia, indicating that he had obtained the drug illegally.
Prosecutors said that Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked with two doctors to provide the actor with more than $50,000 worth of ketamine in the weeks before his death.
Iwamasa administered at least 27 ketamine injections to Perry in the last four days before his death, despite warnings about the dangers of such doses.
One of the doctors, Salvador Plascencia, is accused of providing ketamine ‘outside the scope of normal medical practice’ and without medical necessity. He also taught Iwamasa how to administer the drug without proper safety precautions. After Perry's death, the defendants tried to cover up their crimes
Throughout his career, Perry repeatedly struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. He described this in detail in his autobiography.