Two doctors among five charged in 'Friends' star Matthew Perry's death
Two doctors and three others including a personal assistant to actor Matthew Perry have been charged with supplying the "Friends" star with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused his overdose death nearly a year ago, authorities said on Thursday (Aug 15).
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Transcript
00:00Two doctors and three others, including a personal assistant to actor Matthew Perry,
00:07have been charged with supplying the Friends star with ketamine, the powerful sedative
00:12that caused his overdose death nearly a year ago.
00:15The defendants, including a woman known in Los Angeles as the Ketamine Queen, were part
00:21of a criminal network that distributed the drug to Perry and others.
00:25These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves.
00:31They knew what they were doing was wrong.
00:33They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it
00:39anyways.
00:40The two lead defendants in this case are defendants Salvador Placencia and defendant Jasveen Sanya.
00:48Defendant Placencia was a medical doctor.
00:52He worked with another medical doctor, defendant Mark Chavez, to obtain ketamine.
00:59He then worked with Mr. Perry's live-in assistant, defendant Kenneth Iwamasa, to distribute that
01:06ketamine to Mr. Perry.
01:09Over two months, from September to October 2023, they distributed approximately 20 vials
01:16of ketamine to Mr. Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash.
01:24Defendant Placencia knew what he was doing was harming Mr. Perry.
01:28He had spoken to another patient in mid-October 2023, and he told that patient that Mr. Perry
01:35was spiraling out of control with his addiction.
01:38Nonetheless, defendant Placencia continued to offer ketamine to Mr. Perry.
01:44He wrote in a text message in September 2023, quote, I wonder how much this moron will pay.
01:52Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties, sometimes prescribed
01:58to treat depression.
01:59For months, Los Angeles homicide detectives and federal agents have been investigating
02:04how Perry obtained the prescription drug.
02:07Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of drug and alcohol abuse, including during the
02:12years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends.
02:18He was found floating face-down in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home last October.
02:23He died of the acute effects of ketamine, according to an autopsy report.