Matthew Perry Was ‘Addicted’ to ‘Intravenous Ketamine’ Before His Death, Police Confirm

After arrests were made in connection to the death of Matthew Perry, police confirmed that the Friends star was addicted to ketamine administered by IV before he passed.

“Mr. Perry sought treatment for depression and anxiety and went to a local clinic where He became addicted to intravenous ketamine,” DEA administrator Anne Milgram said during a press conference on Thursday, August 15. “When clinic doctors refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous doctors who saw Perry as a way to make quick money.”

Milgram continued, “Dr. [Mark] Chavez and Dr. [Salvador] Placensia violated the oath they took to care for their patients. Instead of ‘do no harm,’ they did harm so that they could make more money. Without performing any medical evaluation or monitoring, they supplied Perry with large amounts of ketamine in exchange for large sums of money.”

Milgram explained that as Perry’s addiction “grew,” The Whole Nine Yards star began to want more of the drug “faster and cheaper.” His desire to acquire the ketamine faster was ultimately what led Perry to buy “from street dealers who sold the ketamine that ultimately led to his death.”

“Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday. And it ended with street dealers who sold him ketamine in unmarked vials,” Milgram said.

It was also stated that after Perry died, the defendants “tried to cover up what they'd done.” Documents obtained by In Touch showed screenshots of text messages between Jasveen Sangha, who was known as the “Ketamine Queen” and alleged drug dealer Erik Fleming. In the conversation, Sangha instructed Fleming to “delete all our messages.”

On October 28, 2023, Perry was found dead at his home in Pacific Palisades, California. Authorities were called to his residence after receiving a report of a cardiac arrest. Perry was discovered unresponsive in his hot tub when paramedics arrived on the scene, and it was initially believed that the actor had drowned. However, police began a preliminary investigation into Perry’s death, and the cause of death was deferred.

In December 2023, it was revealed that Perry’s official cause of death was listed as the “acute effects of ketamine,” according to the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner. While TMZ had reported that Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion treatments at the time of his death, the outlet stated that his death “could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is three to four hours, or less.”

On August 15, multiple arrests were made in connection to the 17 Again actor’s death, including Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. When authorities held a Q&A session the same day, they offered up more details on why the services given by Dr. Placensia were not legitimate ketamine treatments.

“In this case, we are not talking about legitimate ketamine treatment,” Los Angeles police chief Dominc Chan said. “We are talking about two doctors who abused the trust they had, abused their licenses to put another person’s life at risk. Five defendants who, as I mentioned, knew that what they were doing was wrong … Nothing about what we see today was legitimate.”