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Matthew Perry was given 27 shots of ketamine in his final days, according to a new documentary. ‘There needs to be accountability,’ prosecutor says.
“In the past, we used to ... do more blaming of the victim,” said former U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “We don't do that anymore. We blame the ... drug sellers for taking advantage of those addiction issues to cause death or serious injury."
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Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy is a new documentary on how the Friends star died in 2023 of a ketamine overdose and the investigation into how he obtained the drug. (Peacock)
Matthew Perry’s overdose death will forever be the one that was a gut punch.
A new Peacock documentary, Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, looks at the Friends star’s rise to fame alongside his lifelong battle with addiction. While his 2022 best-selling memoir, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing, suggested that the worst was behind him in his dependency on drugs and alcohol, the 54-year-old actor died from a ketamine overdose on Oct. 28, 2023.
The hourlong special digs into the final months and days before he drowned in his hot tub, and describes how he used the dissociative anesthetic, which is used off-label to treat depression and also recreationally for its hallucinatory effects. The resulting criminal investigation resulted in five arrests.
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According to the documentary, Perry received 27 shots of ketamine in his final three days, outside his legitimate ketamine therapy for anxiety and depression. Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case before stepping down in January, said that the five people arrested — including two physicians, an alleged drug dealer and Perry’s live-in personal assistant — are “people who should have known much better.”
Two of them — Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who allegedly administered the drug to Perry in a parking lot and called the star a “moron” in a text, and Jasveen Sangha, the so-called “Ketamine Queen,” who allegedly provided Perry’s fatal dose — pleaded not guilty. They both head to trial on March 4 in Los Angeles. The three others — Dr. Mark Chavez; Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; and an acquaintance, Erik Fleming — pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. They await sentencing in April (Chavez and Fleming) and May (Iwamasa).
Here’s what we learned in the documentary.
Doctors were driven by ‘greed,’ prosecutor saidPlasencia allegedly obtained fraudulent prescriptions for ketamine from Chavez in September and October 2023. Estrada said they were motivated by “greed,” charging Perry $55,000 for 20 vials of a drug that should have cost $12 a vial. Of the huge markup, Plasencia texted Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” according to the indictment.
Dr. Mark Chavez, shown here in Los Angeles, was one of two doctors charged in connection with Perry's death. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to dispense ketamine in October and is cooperating with prosecutors. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“Dr. Plasencia was very clear in text messages … that he saw this as an opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time,” Estrada said, “and he allegedly did just that.”
Plasencia allegedly administered ketamine to Perry in the back of a car in a Long Beach, Calif., parking lot The large dose caused Perry to freeze up, and his blood pressure spiked. However, Plasencia allegedly continued to give Perry ketamine — and also gave it to Iwamasa, who had no medical training, to inject into Perry.
Plasencia is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation into Perry's death.
“Doctors are not supposed to inject people in the back of parking lots,” Estrada said. “A trained doctor like Dr. Plasencia knew much better. One of the overall themes of our indictment is that all these defendants should know better, they were taking advantage of an individual and letting their greed drive them to endanger Mr. Perry's life.”
Plasencia allegedly could no longer provide the amount of ketamine Iwamasa sought on Perry’s behalf and connected him with Fleming. Fleming, a former film director who worked at a rehab facility, served as a go-between for Iwamasa and Sangha. Sangha allegedly sold Perry 50 vials of ketamine, including the fatal dose, in his last two weeks of life, charging $11,000.
Sangha — who had ketamine, cocaine, Xanax, methamphetamine pills, drug ledgers and scales in her home when it was raided by authorities — is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine and five counts of distribution of ketamine.
Former U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada appeared in the documentary to discuss the investigation into how Perry obtained the ketamine. (Peacock)
Sangha is accused of selling ketamine to a second victim, Cody McLaury, who died from an overdose in 2019. Perry’s case put a spotlight on McLaury’s death.
“In the past, we used to call these things overdose deaths and do more blaming of the victim,” Estrada said. “We don't do that anymore. We blame the drug dealers, the drug sellers, for taking advantage of those addiction issues to cause death or serious injury, and that's why we bring these cases. The big takeaway from this case is that when people involved in reckless activity, whether that be drug dealing or other activity, cause the death of others, there needs to be accountability.”
Ketamine expert said Perry never should have been alone in a hot tubDavid Feifel, a psychiatrist and the medical director at Kadima Neuropsychiatry Institute, said ketamine use should be highly monitored by medical professionals. He said one of the fatal mistakes was that Iwamasa — who administered 27 shots of ketamine to Perry during his final three days — set up Perry’s hot tub for him before leaving him alone to run errands.
“What should have happened at that point was, first of all, monitoring his vitals, but more importantly, they should have made sure that he was not near anything that could cause him harm,” Feifel said. “When you're not in control of your body, you're at risk of doing harm to yourself.”
Before his death, Perry shared a photo of himself in his hot tub:
Former celebrity assistant said lines get blurred between star and employeeIwamasa worked with Perry for decades. Jennifer O’Neill, a former personal assistant for Lady Gaga who was interviewed for the documentary, talked about how things could have gotten so bad, with Iwamasa injecting his boss with drugs.
“Ken was living with him. He was working with him 24/7. When you have a personal relationship, lines get blurred,” said O’Neill.
“Your boss asks you to do something and you may not feel comfortable doing it, but this is your livelihood on the line,” she said. “If you say no, they’ll just find somebody else who will say yes. I think it’s easy for people to judge Ken, saying he never should have done that. I don’t know him personally but if I were in his shoes, I would be horrified at the situation.”
Morgan Fairchild said Perry tried to help people ‘even in the midst of his own pain’Perry wrote his 2020 memoir to help other addicts. His TV mom from Friends said he was incredibly “brave” for sharing his addiction struggles beginning in the early 2000s.
“I was terribly proud of him,” Fairchild said. “It's hard, especially in this town, to admit you've got any problem, that there's anything wrong, and I thought it was very brave of him… He did seem to really want to help other people that were also struggling.”
The actress Morgan Fairchild shares perspective on her TV son's struggles and legacy. (Peacock)
When he was struggling, “even in the midst of his own pain, he tried to reach out to other people,” she said.
Fairchild added that Perry’s legacy “will be one of hope and joy and friendship and love.”
Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy premieres Feb. 25 on Peacock.
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