Doctor to Plead Guilty in Matthew Perry's Ketamine Case

A California doctor has agreed to plead guilty to illegally supplying ketamine to Friends actor Matthew Perry before his fatal overdose in October 2023, according to a court filing revealed Monday.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who ran an urgent care clinic in Malibu, will face four felony counts of unauthorized ketamine distribution. Prosecutors say he faces up to 40 years behind bars and is expected to formally enter his plea in the coming weeks.

Plasencia becomes the fourth person to plead guilty in connection to Perry’s death at age 54. The actor, who famously played Chandler Bing on the beloved ‘90s sitcom, died of the acute effects of ketamine, with contributing factors including his drowning in a hot tub, per the autopsy.

Ketamine is a powerful anesthetic sometimes used for depression and anxiety treatment but is frequently misused recreationally.

In the plea agreement, Plasencia admitted to personally injecting Perry with ketamine—both at the actor’s home and in a Santa Monica parking lot—just weeks before his death. The procedures, he confessed, were not medically justified and done in exchange for thousands of dollars.

The ketamine used was sourced from another physician, Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego, who has also pleaded guilty. In a disturbing text exchange previously revealed in court, Plasencia messaged Chavez saying: “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

Two more defendants have also admitted guilt, while a fifth—Jasveen Sangha, dubbed the “ketamine queen” by her customers—has pleaded not guilty. Authorities claim Sangha provided the fatal dose and she’s set to face trial in August.

Perry had been open about his lifelong struggle with addiction, which spanned much of his career, including during the peak of Friends. His death shocked fans around the globe and has now become a sobering cautionary tale of celebrity, mental health, and substance misuse.

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