Five people arrested and charged over death of Friends actor Matthew Perry

Five people have been arrested and charged over the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry, US prosecutors said last night, including the actor's personal assistant and two doctors.

- Adam Gabbatt and agencies

The doctors supplied Perry, who died at his Los Angeles home in October 2023, with a large amount of ketamine, the US attorney Martin Estrada said, and "took advantage of Mr Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves".

Perry, 54, had publicly discussed his issues with addiction. He had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety and depression at the time of his death, the Los Angeles medical examiner said in an autopsy report last year, but the examiner found much higher levels of ketamine in the actor's bloodstream than would be expected from the therapy alone.

Documents filed in federal court in California, reported by the New York Times, accuse several people of being involved in a scheme to procure thousands of dollars worth of ketamine and administer it to Perry.