Doctor Admits Supplying Drug Linked to Matthew Perry Overdose

A doctor has pleaded guilty to illegally providing ketamine to Friends star Matthew Perry in the weeks leading up to the actor’s death from a drug overdose in October 2023.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia admitted to four counts of ketamine distribution, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in federal prison. He is among five individuals charged in connection with Perry’s death at age 54, which was attributed to the acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his Los Angeles hot tub.

According to court documents, Plasencia distributed 20 vials of ketamine, as well as lozenges and syringes, to Perry and his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between September 30 and October 12, 2023. In a text message cited in the case, Plasencia reportedly wrote, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” for the drugs. His plea agreement states that he acknowledges his actions "fell below the proper standard of medical care."

Plasencia is not the only medical professional implicated. Dr. Mark Chavez, another physician involved in the case, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to conspiring to distribute ketamine. Prosecutors allege Chavez supplied the drugs that Plasencia then resold to Perry at inflated prices.

Iwamasa, Perry’s assistant, is accused of injecting the actor with ketamine more than 20 times in the four days leading up to his death. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death and is scheduled to be sentenced in November.

Another defendant, Jasveen Sangha, nicknamed the “Ketamine Queen”, is accused of supplying ketamine to high-profile clients, including the fatal dose to Perry. She has pleaded not guilty.

Matthew Perry had spoken openly about his decades-long struggle with addiction, which began during his time portraying Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom Friends. In his 2022 memoir, Perry wrote, “I have mostly been sober since 2001, save for about 60 or 70 little mishaps.” In 2018, he survived a life-threatening overdose that led to a burst colon and multiple surgeries.

His 2021 appearance in the Friends reunion special raised public concern about his health. Co-creator Marta Kauffman later reflected: “Every time he had surgery, they’d give him opioids, and the cycle would start over again. So, yes, I was worried about where he was in that cycle.”

David Crane, who co-created Friends with Kauffman, said Perry’s death, while tragic, was not entirely unexpected. “Given the journey he’d been on… there was always a part of us bracing for something like this. But it’s still hard to believe—because he was such an alive person.”