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After a lengthy investigation, Matthew Perry‘s doctors and assistants were arrested and charged with causing his death. Court documents included the alleged texts sent among his doctors right before his death, and it’s haunting to see how they exploited his addiction for their own benefit.
Read more: How the Friends cast reacted to Matthew Perry’s death
Perry died in an apparent drowning, according to TMZ at his LA home on October 28, 2023. On December 15, 2023, the full toxicology report was revealed, finding his cause of death was due to “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Contributing factors in the Friends actor’s death included drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine.
US District Attorney Martin Estrada said in a press conference that Perry relapsed from his substance abuse issues last fall and the five people charged with his death “took advantage to profit for themselves.” Perry was open about his struggles with drug addiction in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing.
‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing’ by Matthew Perry
The Matthew Perry texts, revealed
Salvador Plasencia’s texts
Plasencia wrote in a text message, “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” in regards to Perry’s intake of ketamine. He also wrote that he wanted to be Perry’s “go-to” for the drug.
Erik Fleming’s texts
Erik Fleming texted, “I wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t chance of me making some money for doing this.” Fleming supplied Iwamasa with the Ketamine and pleaded guilty to obtaining the drug from Sangha and delivering it to Iwamasa.
In all, he delivered 50 vials of ketamine for Perry’s use. Fleming pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Jasveen Sangha’s texts
Doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez corresponded with each other about supplying the ketamine to the actor. They received the drug from Dr. Jasveen Sangha dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” who supplied ketamine to doctors, including Plasencia, who would then facilitate the sale of the drug to people close to Perry. Sangha and Plasencia both pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, while Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
When news of Matthew Perry’s death broke, Sangha texted Fleming: “Delete all of our messages.” Sangha also allegedly looked up on Google if ketamine was a cause of death.
Kenny Iwamasa’s texts
In documents obtained by Us Weekly, back-to-back texts between Perry and his long-time assistant, Kenny Iwamasa, revealed Perry had spent at least $55,000 on 55 vials of ketamine and numerous injections almost every day in the month leading up to Perry’s death.
“Want to end up with bottles of dr pepper, not just 8 sessions,” a text from Iwamasa to Dr. Salvador Plasencia, sent on October 2. “I will need to get more cans of dr pepper from you today, I can come to you to make it convenient.” Dr. P writes two days later, that he is “currently retrieving 4 bottles” from his source.
On October 8, Iwasama texts Dr. P, asking if he can pay with “something besides cash” because “[i]ts hard to get to the bank on the fly with all that’s going on which happens so fast now.” On October 10, Iwasama texts again: “How much do you want per bottle and what is the nice tip you want.”
On October 27, the day before Perry died, Dr. P. contacts Iwamasa: “Hi. I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine,” he texted. “I can always let her know the plan. I will be back in town Tuesday.”
Iwamasa confessed to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including administering multiple injections on the day Perry died. Iwamasa pleaded guilty to the charges.
