Charges filed in connection to the death of Matthew Perry
Five arrests have been made in connection to the death of Matthew Perry, which was determined to be from the "acute effects of ketamine"
Photo by: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images
An ongoing investigation into the overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry resulted in multiple arrests Thursday morning, according to ABC News. Perry died in October 2023 “from the acute effects of ketamine,” per the autopsy. At the time, he was reportedly receiving ketamine therapy, receiving infusions to help treat depression and anxiety. However, the medical examiner stated that the ketamine in his system didn’t come from the therapeutic infusions.
Five people, including two doctors, were arrested and now face numerous charges, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution resulting in death, and possession with intent to distribute, it was announced at a joint news conference with the U.S. attorney for Los Angeles and the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The charges are also connected to the death of another person identified as C.M.
Perry is alleged to have gotten his initial supply of the drugs from the two doctors. When that became too expensive, Perry allegedly turned to a new source that includes Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles,” a federal source told ABC News. The indictment alleges “numerous interactions of sales” from Salvador Plasencia, a licensed medical doctor known as “Dr. P,” to the co-conspirators, and the exchange of encrypted messages “and coded language referring to ketamine as ‘Dr. Pepper’ to distribute their drugs,” per ABC.
According to the medical examiner’s report on Perry’s death, “At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression.” Perry long dealt with substance abuse issues and was open about his journey to sobriety, including in his memoir Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing, published a year before his death. “The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, ‘I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?’ I can say ‘yes’ and follow up and do it,” he said while promoting his memoir. “When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m gonna live the rest of my life proving that.”