Nearly a year after Matthew Perry's death, courts are still wrestling with prescription drug charges
It’s been nearly a year since the sad news of actor Matthew Perry’s passing. The "Friends" star had shared his struggles with drugs and alcohol, as well as his various stints in rehab, in his 2022 memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing."
Though initial reports shared that Perry had died at home in his hot tub, many speculated and hoped there wasn’t more involved with his accidental drowning. When it was later revealed through an autopsy report that there was a high concentration of ketamine in his blood, friends and fans were devastated by the news.
However, the tragedy quickly turned into a criminal matter earlier this summer when two doctors were charged in connection with Perry’s death. And, in late August, San Diego-based doctor, Mark Chavez, signed a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine.
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He admitted to taking multiple prescription drugs, including ketamine, from the ketamine-infusion clinic he used to work. Chavez was released on a $50,000 bond and was ordered not to practice medicine. In a separate hearing earlier in the week, Chavez had already agreed to surrender his California medical license.
Five people were arrested in connection with actor Matthew Perry's death. The courts are still working on some of the cases. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
However, Chavez was one of five defendants who were charged in connection with Perry’s death, including Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; associate, Erik Fleming; and Jasveen Sangha, a woman dubbed North Hollywood’s "Ketamine Queen."
When federal agents and LAPD detectives executed search warrants of Sangha’s home, they allegedly found 79 vials of ketamine, methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine and prescription drugs as part of drug trafficking evidence.
Per the indictment, Sangha had been allegedly selling unmarked ketamine vials since 2019 to Hollywood celebrities, and she was also previously linked to another ketamine-related death. In 2019, she allegedly sold ketamine to Cody McLaury hours before he overdosed.
Putting blame on every messenger
The indictment reads that when Perry’s medical doctors declined to up his prescription of ketamine, per his request, he sought it from outside sources.
It was allegedly Iwamasa who procured ketamine from Sangha by coordinating with Fleming. Iwamasa pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for November 6, 2024. Meanwhile, Fleming has also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Additionally, Santa Monica doctor Salvador Plasencia is charged with seven counts of ketamine distribution and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.
Both Plasencia and Sangha have pleaded not guilty to their charges and have pending trial dates scheduled for October 8, 2024, and October 15, 2024, respectively. If convicted, Sangha could face a sentence between 10 years and life imprisonment, and Plasencia could face up to 10 years in federal prison per each of his seven counts of ketamine distribution plus an additional 20 years for records falsification.
Holding doctors responsible for the dangers of ketamine
Ketamine is a controlled substance used primarily as a veterinary anesthetic but has increased in popularity as a recreational use, commonly referred to as special K, for its hallucinogenic properties. Its use is meant to be monitored by a physician.
Matthew Perry and his co-stars during a season 4 episode of "Friends." (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Abuse of the drug can impair an individual’s senses, coordination, and judgment for up to 24 hours and can have other lasting effects, including delirium, depression, high blood pressure and potentially fatal respiratory problems. Prosecutors alleged Perry paid $2,000 per ketamine vial, while his dealers were paying $12 per vial.
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In this particular instance, it appears the distribution of ketamine potentially was purely a money-making scheme to take advantage of a public figure who had historically struggled with drug use. Overprescription and illegal distribution of prescription drugs have continued to plague the country.
Physicians abusing their power have come under scrutiny in the past decade for opioids as pain medication, with pain management clinics popping up across the country, particularly in the southeast.
The indictment reads that when Perry’s medical doctors declined to up his prescription of ketamine, per his request, he sought it from outside sources.
And, in 2015, a Rowland Heights, Calif., doctor was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder for prescribing mass quantities of addictive drugs to patients who had allegedly no legitimate need, with three of those patients dying of overdoses.
The guilty verdict marked the first time in the U.S. that a doctor was convicted of murder for overprescribing drugs. The district attorney in the case said at the time, "This verdict sends a strong message to individuals in the medical community who put patients at risk for their own financial gain. In this case, the doctor stole the lives of three young people in her misguided effort to get rich quick."
Though no murder charges are applied in the case of Matthew Perry, it doesn’t make his death any less of a cautionary tale or a call for justice. How the legal fate of the remaining defendants will play out remains to be seen and will hopefully begin to derail similar incidents in the future.
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Kelly Hyman is an attorney, TV legal analyst, Democratic political commentator and the host of the popular true-crime podcast, "Once Upon a Crime in Hollywood." She has been called "a modern day Erin Brockovich" by Forbes and has appeared on Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, CourtTV, BBC and MSNBC. She focuses on complex litigation such as class actions and mass tort litigation. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
