Doctor pleads guilty in connection with Matthew Perry’s overdose death

A California doctor, Mark Chavez, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine to actor Matthew Perry, who died from a fatal overdose. The overdose occurred in October 2023 at Perry’s Los Angeles home. Chavez obtained the ketamine by writing fraudulent prescriptions and lying to distributors to obtain the drug. He sold it to Perry through Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who is also facing charges. The actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a friend, Erik Fleming, have pleaded guilty in connection to Perry’s death, while an alleged drug dealer known as the “ketamine queen,” Jasveen Sangha, has pleaded not guilty. The Drug Enforcement Administration chief, Anne Milgram, stated that each defendant played a role in Perry’s death by providing the ketamine that caused the overdose. Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety, but the levels of ketamine in his body at the time of his death were dangerously high. Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison and has surrendered his passport and agreed to stop practicing medicine. He remains out on bond awaiting sentencing on April 2.

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