Two doctors among five charged in 'Friends' star Matthew Perry's death

The Star

Two doctors and three others including a personal assistant to actor Matthew Perry have been charged with supplying the "Friends" star with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused his overdose death nearly a year ago, authorities said on Thursday (Aug 15).  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/yck4wsbd  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Two doctors and three others, including a personal assistant to actor Matthew Perry,

00:07have been charged with supplying the Friends star with ketamine, the powerful sedative

00:12that caused his overdose death nearly a year ago.

00:15The defendants, including a woman known in Los Angeles as the Ketamine Queen, were part

00:21of a criminal network that distributed the drug to Perry and others.

00:25These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves.

00:31They knew what they were doing was wrong.

00:33They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it

00:39anyways.

00:40The two lead defendants in this case are defendants Salvador Placencia and defendant Jasveen Sanya.

00:48Defendant Placencia was a medical doctor.

00:52He worked with another medical doctor, defendant Mark Chavez, to obtain ketamine.

00:59He then worked with Mr. Perry's live-in assistant, defendant Kenneth Iwamasa, to distribute that

01:06ketamine to Mr. Perry.

01:09Over two months, from September to October 2023, they distributed approximately 20 vials

01:16of ketamine to Mr. Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash.

01:24Defendant Placencia knew what he was doing was harming Mr. Perry.

01:28He had spoken to another patient in mid-October 2023, and he told that patient that Mr. Perry

01:35was spiraling out of control with his addiction.

01:38Nonetheless, defendant Placencia continued to offer ketamine to Mr. Perry.

01:44He wrote in a text message in September 2023, quote, I wonder how much this moron will pay.

01:52Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties, sometimes prescribed

01:58to treat depression.

01:59For months, Los Angeles homicide detectives and federal agents have been investigating

02:04how Perry obtained the prescription drug.

02:07Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of drug and alcohol abuse, including during the

02:12years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends.

02:18He was found floating face-down in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home last October.

02:23He died of the acute effects of ketamine, according to an autopsy report.

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