Matthew Perry's Medical History Revealed: Actor Given 27 Ketamine Shots Prior to Death
Matthew Perry received 27 shots of ketamine in his three final days, according to U.S. attorney Martin Estrada. In a new documentary, Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, released on Peacock, Estrada claims that Perry had been administered the doses outside of his prescribed ketamine therapy for anxiety and depression.
Estrada says that Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, gave him the final three doses of ketamine purchased from "Ketamine Queen" Jasveen Sangha. The indictment unsealed last August alleges that Iwamasa worked with two doctors, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, to procure large quantities of ketamine for Perry in the period leading up to his death.
“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 says in the documentary, “and he allegedly did just that.”
"Shoot me up with a big one," Perry reportedly instructed his assistant before requesting him to prepare the hot tub. After completing some errands, Iwamasa returned to discover Perry unconscious, lying face down in the water.
Sangha messaged Erik Fleming with the directive: "Delete all our messages." Both Dr. Plasencia and Sangha maintain their innocence, having entered not guilty pleas. Their court proceedings are scheduled to begin March 4 in Los Angeles.
In contrast, Iwamasa, Fleming, and Dr. Chavez have admitted guilt and await their sentencing.
“In the past, we used to call these things overdose deaths and do more blaming of the victim,” says Estrada. “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.”
Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy is now streaming on Peacock.