Climbing into his backyard jacuzzi that overlooked the Santa Monica Mountains, Matthew Perry uttered the seven words that would ultimately lead to his death: “Shoot me up with a big one.”
The big one, court documents would later reveal, was a dose of ketamine, a prescription anaesthetic and a hallucinogen that has become popular for its off-label uses to treat depression and anxiety. It was the actor’s third injection of the day.
Hours after that fatal dose, the “Friends” actor was found face down in the jacuzzi. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene with a coroner finding ketamine was his primary cause of death.
The details about Perry’s last day alive on 28 October 2023 were revealed in court documents following a police probe that ultimately led to five people being charged in relation to his death.
The documents offer an in-depth look by the law enforcement agencies into his drug addiction, which he struggled with for decades, and a glimpse into Hollywood’s ketamine drug network. Doctors and experts told the BBC the growth in ketamine’s popularity in recent years has caused the market to explode, with the expansion of ketamine clinics and online services offering easy prescription access to the drug, as well as a burgeoning illicit drug market.
“It’s super easy [to get], – be it underground or prescription,” Dr David Mahjoubi, who serves as president of the American Board of Ketamine Physicians, told the BBC. “I have celebrities that are getting a prescription from me. It’s super easy, not hard at all.”
An underground network
Federal authorities said their investigation into Perry’s death uncovered a “broad underground criminal network” of drug suppliers who distributed large quantities of ketamine across Los Angeles.
Federal court documents detail Perry’s last months alive and the transition from his treatments at a ketamine clinic for depression and anxiety, where a physician administered the drug and monitored for side effects, to an addiction that led him to “unscrupulous doctors” and a network of street dealers.
Perry had been open about his addiction problems, which stem back decades – even to his time playing Chandler Bing on “Friends”. If a drug entered his life, he seemed to become addicted.
But in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he said he’d finally got sober, and one woman told investigators at the coroner’s office that she believed he’d been sober for 19 months.
Somewhere in that time, he started receiving ketamine infusion therapy. Experts say Perry’s history of addiction helped lead him to quickly become hooked on the drug.
The federal investigation found that over a nearly two-month span before his death, Perry purchased dozens of vials of ketamine for thousands of dollars.
Over the three days before his death, his assistant injected him at least six times a day with ketamine shots.
United States Attorney’s Office for the CeAuthorities say they found an underground “drug selling emporium” when raiding the home of Jasveen Sangha – one of the five people charged in Perry’s death
- Kenneth Iwamasa: Perry’s live-in personal assistant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He admitted to helping Perry find ketamine and repeatedly injecting him with the drug, including the dose that killed him.
- Dr Salvador Plasencia: A physician accused of supplying Perry with large quantities of ketamine, injecting him on multiple occasions – including in a public parking lot – and teaching his assistant how to inject him with doses. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him arising out of Perry’s death.
- Dr Mark Chavez: A physician who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He admitted to selling ketamine to Dr Plasencia, including drugs he had diverted from a ketamine clinic.
- Jasveen Sangha, described by law enforcement as the “The Ketamine Queen”: An alleged street dealer who court documents say was known to work with celebrities and high-end clients. She is accused of supplying the drugs that ultimately killed Perry. Authorities raided her home and discovered what they called a “drug-selling emporium” with dozens of ketamine vials and thousands of pills. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges against her, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
- Eric Fleming: A middleman who authorities say got drugs from Ms Sangha and distributed them to Perry and his assistant. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in deat
Ms Sangha “only deal[s] with high end and celebs,” the indictment quoted her co-accused Erik Fleming as saying
Ms Sangha “only deal[s] with high end and celebs,” the indictment quoted her co-accused Erik Fleming as saying‘Yes men’
Numerous doctors and experts who spoke to the BBC for this story spoke about the toxic relationship between celebrity and medicine.
“The VIP treatment is usually not the best treatment,” Dr Gerard Sanacora, director of Yale University’s Depression Research Program, told the BBC.
“Doctors are humans, too, and despite taking the Hippocratic oath, not everyone abides by it,” he added, acknowledging doctors can “lose perspective when you have a VIP client” and there’s promises of invites to big parties or donations to research programs or charities.
Dr Mahjoubi, who operates two ketamine clinics in California – including one in Los Angeles – told the BBC that when celebrities are your patients, normal boundaries can be hard to maintain.
He said he was treating one unnamed celebrity who he offered his cell phone number to in case of emergencies.
The patient was “constantly trying to asking me favours – ‘hey, refill my prescription’- and it’s like Sunday evening.”
“I told him, ‘Look please email me anything medically related’ and blocked him,” Dr Mahjoubi said.
He also said he’s seen how ketamine has become a “go-to” party drug for celebrities, who think it is safer than something like cocaine, which can be laced with deadly drugs like fentanyl.
Another Los Angeles area doctor, who operates several pain management centres – another condition ketamine is marketed to – called the spread of ketamine treatments the new “wild west”.
He spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss ketamine’s popularity, detailing the nuanced relationships he’s witnessed between doctors and some celebrities.
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Source ( BBC News )
