Doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced to 2-1/2 years

A California doctor was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday for illegally supplying Friends sitcom star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor's drug overdose death in 2023.

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(COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG)

Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who ran an urgent-care clinic outside Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in federal court in July to four felony counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anesthetic. He could have faced up to 40 years in prison for the crime.

Mr. Perry was found by his live-in assistant floating face down and lifeless in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, 2023. He was 54. An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing the actor to lose consciousness and drown.

Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.