Doctor pleads guilty to supplying ketamine to Friends star Matthew Perry
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American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry had a lengthy struggle with substance addiction before his death in 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Doctor Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty to illegally distributing ketamine, including to Matthew Perry before his 2023 death.
- Plasencia admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine without legitimate medical purpose at his home and in a carpark.
- Plasencia faces up to 40 years in prison; other co-defendants have pleaded guilty, while one has pleaded not guilty (Reuters).
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LOS ANGELES – A California doctor charged in the 2023 overdose death of Friends (1994 to 2004) star Matthew Perry pleaded guilty on July 23 to four counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anaesthetic ketamine.
Salvador Plasencia, one of five people charged in the death of Perry
The 43-year-old will remain free on bond until his sentencing on Dec 3. He intends to surrender his medical licence within 45 days, his attorney said.
In court, the doctor looked down and patted his face with tissues while answering “Yes, Your Honour” to a series of questions about his actions in the weeks before Perry’s death in October 2023.
Plasencia admitted to supplying Perry with ketamine, a short-acting anaesthetic with hallucinogenic properties.
The drug is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and anxiety, but is also abused by recreational users. Plasencia acknowledged that he injected Perry with ketamine at the actor’s home and in the back seat of a parked car, and that doing so was not for legitimate medical purposes.
Plasencia operated an urgent care clinic and obtained the ketamine from another doctor, Mark Chavez of San Diego.
According to court filings, Plasencia texted Chavez about Perry, writing: “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
Salvador Plasencia leaves court after pleading guilty on July 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Attorneys for Plasencia said the doctor was “profoundly remorseful” for the decisions he made regarding Perry and was “fully accepting responsibility”.
“He hopes his case serves as a warning to other medical professionals and leads to stricter oversight and clear protocols for the rapidly growing at-home ketamine industry in order to prevent future tragedies like this one,” his attorneys said in a written statement.
Chavez and two other co-defendants have already pleaded guilty in the case. None has yet been sentenced.
A fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha, whom the authorities said was a drug dealer
She has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in August.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit television sitcom Friends. REUTERS
