23-07-2025
Doctor pleads guilty to selling Matthew Perry ketamine before ‘Friends' star's death
A California doctor charged in the 2023 overdose death of Friends star Matthew Perry pleaded guilty on Wednesday to four counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anaesthetic ketamine.
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Salvador Plasencia, one of five people charged in the death of Perry at age 54, entered the plea in US District Court in Los Angeles.
He faces up to 40 years in prison when sentenced, prosecutors said.
Ketamine is a short-acting anaesthetic with hallucinogenic properties. It is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and anxiety but is also abused by recreational users.
In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Plasencia admitted injecting Perry with ketamine at the actor's home and in a Santa Monica carpark in the weeks before his death on October 28, 2023, and that doing so was not for legitimate medical purposes.
Salvador Plasencia leaves federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday after pleading guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his death. Photo: Reuters
Plasencia, who operated an urgent care clinic, obtained the ketamine from another doctor, Mark Chavez of San Diego.
