- Five charged over Matthew Perry’s death – including two doctors and Perry’s PA
- A post-mortem revealed a lethal amount of ketamine in his system, leading to his death
- Prosecutors allege that Perry’s assistant collaborated with two doctors to provide over $50,000 worth of ketamine
- Three of the accused, including Perry’s PA have already pleaded guilty
- A doctor and a woman nicknamed “The Ketamine Queen,” were arrested on Thursday
Five charged over Matthew Perry’s death
Five individuals, including two doctors and Matthew Perry’s personal assistant, have been charged in connection with the actor’s drug-related death last year, authorities announced on Thursday. Perry, best known for his role on Friends, died at 54 in his Los Angeles home in October 2023. A post-mortem revealed a lethal amount of ketamine in his system, leading to his death.
The investigation, which began in May, uncovered a “broad underground criminal network” supplying large quantities of ketamine, a powerful anaesthetic also used for treating depression, anxiety, and pain. Three of the accused, including Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, have already pleaded guilty, while two others, a doctor and a woman nicknamed “The Ketamine Queen,” were arrested on Thursday.
Prosecutors allege that Perry’s assistant collaborated with two doctors to provide over $50,000 worth of ketamine to the actor in the weeks leading up to his death. The indictment suggests that those involved sought to profit from Perry’s known struggles with substance abuse, with one doctor alleged to have written in a text message: “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”
The medical examiner confirmed that the ketamine levels in Perry’s body were equivalent to those used during general anaesthesia, ruling out any connection to his ketamine infusion therapy, which had occurred more than a week before his death.