Matthew Perry Allegedly Spent $55,000 on Ketamine in Final Days Before Death
Matthew Perry reportedly spent at least $55,000 on his ketamine addiction in the weeks leading up to his death.
Matthew’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa — who was one of the five suspects arrested in connection to the Friends actor’s October 2023 death — reportedly met with Dr. Salvador Plasencia and "exchanged thousands in cash for bottles” of ketamine on September 30, 2023, according to Radar Online.
Dr. Plasencia would administer the ketamine injections at Perry’s Pacific Palisades home, including one instance that happened “within hours” of him already being injected with the deadly anesthetic.
Perry was 54 years old when he was found dead in his California home on October 23, 2023. The actor drowned in his hot tub and months later, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner eventually declared his cause of death to be from the “acute effects of ketamine.”
The Fools Rush In actor had been open about his use of ketamine to treat his depression and anxiety. His last therapy session happened a week and a half before his death, indicating that the ketamine he overdosed on was not prescribed by a doctor, as it would have already cleared his system by the time he passed away.
This ignited a criminal investigation by authorities, with five people being arrested in connection with Perry’s death on August 15. Along with Iwamasa and Plasencia, police arrested Dr. Mark Chavez, Eric Fleming and Jasveen Sangha.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram spoke during a press conference about the arrests on August 15 and said that each person arrested “played a key role in [Perry’s] death.”
“These criminals will have meaningful sentences and be an example for anyone that is willing to risk or jeopardize distributing and supplying unlawful narcotics to anyone,” Los Angeles police chief Dominic Chan said at a press conference on August 15. “You cannot get away with this regardless of your background or socioeconomic status. Breaking the law is breaking the law and you are dangerous and jeopardizing lives.”
According to the indictment, Chavez, 54, is a California-based physician who admitted to diverting ketamine from his former clinic in order to sell it to Plasencia. Prosecutors also claimed that Fleming, 54, admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry. In addition, Sangha, 41, used her house to “store, package and distribute narcotics, including ketamine and methamphetamine.”
During the press conference, police also confirmed that the Massachusetts native was addicted to ketamine administered by IV before he passed.
“Mr. Perry sought treatment for depression and anxiety and went to a local clinic where he became addicted to intravenous ketamine,” Milgram explained. “When clinic doctors refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous doctors who saw Perry as a way to make quick money.”
Perry’s addiction drove him to seek the substance “faster and cheaper,” pushing him to buy “from street dealers who sold the ketamine that ultimately led to his death.”
“Dr. [Mark] Chavez and Dr. [Salvador] Placensia violated the oath they took to care for their patients. Instead of ‘do no harm,’ they did harm so that they could make more money,” the DEA Administrator concluded. “Without performing any medical evaluation or monitoring, they supplied Perry with large amounts of ketamine in exchange for large sums of money.”