Matthew Langford Perry was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Perry also appeared on Ally McBeal (2002) and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in The West Wing (2003) and The Ron Clark Story (2006). He played a leading role in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), and also became known for his leading film roles in Fools Rush In (1997), Almost Heroes (1998), Three to Tango (1999), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Serving Sara (2002), The Whole Ten Yards (2004), and 17 Again (2009).
In his memoirs, Perry wrote that by age 14, he had become an alcoholic. He became addicted to Vicodin after a jet ski accident in 1997. In February 2001, Perry paused productions of Friends and Serving Sara for two months so that he could enter in-patient rehabilitation for his addictions to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol. He said later that, due to his substance use disorder, he had no memory of three years of his work on Friends. Perry faked pain to get a prescription for 1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone per day and was having daily ketamine infusions. In 2022, he estimated that he had spent $9 million on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries, 15 stays in rehab and therapy twice a week for 30 years and had attended approximately 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
On October 28, 2023, Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Pacific Palisades. On December 15, 2023, Perry’s death was revealed to have occurred due to acute effects of ketamine. On August 15, 2024, indictments and charges were filed against five people: Perry’s personal assistant, two doctors, and two drug dealers (including TV director Erik Fleming), alleging involvement in the distribution of ketamine that caused the death of Perry and one other person.
Three of the accused agreed to plead guilty,with two, Fleming and Perry’s former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, having their guilty pleas entered into court soon after being charged. Iwamasa pleaded guilty on August 7, 2024, as did Fleming the following day. During a court hearing on August 30, 2024, it was agreed that former doctor Mark Chavez, who had signed a plea agreement but had not yet officially entered it into court, would have his guilty plea accepted. He now awaits sentencing in September 2025.
The second doctor, Salvador Plasencia, just agreed to plead guilty on June 17, 2025. Plasencia admitted to illegally supplying Perry with approximately 20 vials of ketamine, ketamine lozenges, and syringes between September 30 and October 12, 2023, for about $55,000. He distributed the drug outside the scope of legitimate medical practice, including teaching Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, how to inject ketamine, administering injections himself (including in a Long Beach parking lot), and leaving vials for self-administration without proper monitoring. On October 12, 2023, Plasencia witnessed Perry experience a severe reaction (high blood pressure and “freezing up”) but still left additional vials with Iwamasa.
Plasencia operated and was the owner of an urgent care clinic, Malibu Canyon Urgent Care LLC, located in Malibu, California, and worked with Dr. Mark Chavez, who supplied ketamine from his former clinic and obtained additional amounts through fraudulent means. Text messages revealed Plasencia’s intent to exploit Perry, referring to him as a “moron” and discussing how much he would pay.
On September 30, 2023, Plasencia was introduced to Matthew Perry by one of Plasencia’s own patients who stated that Perry was a “high profile person” who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay “cash and lots of thousands” for ketamine treatment. Plasencia subsequently contacted Perry and requested a telehealth visit.
The same day Plasencia contacted Mark Chavez, a medical doctor who had previously owned a ketamine clinic in Costa Mesa, to discuss Perry’s request for ketamine. After Chavez confirmed he had ketamine vials and lozenges that he could immediately sell to Plasencia, he informed Perry that he could provide him with 9, “maybe 18,” doses of ketamine. Perry agreed that Plasencia would deliver the ketamine to Perry’s residence.
In mid-October, Iwamasa had also allegedly begun buying ketamine from Jasveen Sangha, a.k.a. “The Ketamine Queen,” and one of her associates, Erik Fleming. The ketamine that ended up killing Perry had been obtained from them. Fleming also has pleaded guilty. Sangha is scheduled to go on trial in August 2025.