On October 28, 2023, Perry, 54, was found unconscious in the jacuzzi at his Pacific Palisades, California, home. The “Friends” star died in December 2023 from excess intake of harsh ketamine, a dissociative sleep-inducer that affects the mind so as to produce vivid vision features, in accordance with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Perry had been taking ketamine therapy for his depression and anxiety. He was for a long time open about his addiction to alcohol and struggles with opioids.
According to pathologists, Perry took his last session a week and a half before his death, because the autopsy report shows the amount of ketamine found in Matthew Perry’s system was high and it wasn’t from his last session, as the drug has a half-life of three to four hours at most.
The diagnostician’s office identified drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder treatment, as other causative factors for Perry’s demise.
On Thursday morning, the charges were announced at a press conference. The investigators say that they have exposed an underground network of drug sellers and suppliers they allege are accountable for delivering the ketamine. Perry died as a result of taking a potentially fatal drug.
The defendants, including Dr. Salvador Plasencia, aka Dr. P, Perry’s personal assistant, and Jasveen Sangha, referred to by authorities as “The Ketamine Queen,” were accused in a superseding 18-count indictment.
Plasencia entered a not guilty plea to one count of conspiring to distribute ketamine, seven counts of actually distributing ketamine, and two counts of tampering with and fabricating records or documents connected to the federal probe. On the order of Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar, he was placed under arrest on a $100,000 unsecured bond and had to give up his DEA license, which permitted him to prescribe controlled substances. October 8 is the date of his trial.
Sangha entered a not guilty plea to five charges of ketamine distribution, which also includes maintaining drug-involved premises.
Sangha had a bond from a previous case that was not disclosed in court, but the judge canceled it and ordered her to stay in custody. Due to her extensive travels abroad, dual citizenship with the United States and the United Kingdom, and the fact that she looks to be financing herself through drug sales, prosecutors claimed she poses a “significant risk of fleeing.”