Doctors took advantage of Perry’s addiction in the ultimate months of his life last yr to manage ketamine to him in amounts they knew were dangerous, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said as he announced the fees on Thursday.
“They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said. “They knew they were putting Mr. Perry in great danger. But they did it anyway.”
One doctor even wrote in a text message: “I wonder how much this idiot is going to pay” and “Let’s find out,” based on an indictment unsealed Thursday.
Perry died of a ketamine overdose in October. Prosecutors said he received multiple injections the day of his death from his personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who lived with him. Iwamasa found Perry dead later that day and was the primary to talk to investigators.
Ketamine has seen an enormous increase in use lately as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. Although the drug is just not approved for these conditions, doctors can prescribe it for what are generally known as off-label uses.
Perry had received regular ketamine infusions for depression from his primary care doctors, who weren’t among the many defendants – but in quantities removed from sufficient to elucidate his death – authorities said.
When these doctors gave him no further treatment, he turned to others in desperation.
“We’re not talking about legitimate ketamine treatment here,” Estrada said. “We’re talking about two doctors who abused the trust they had and abused their license to put another human being’s life at risk.”
DEA Director Anne Milgram said in a single case the actor paid $2,000 for a vial of ketamine that cost one among the doctors about $12. Perry paid doctors about $55,000 in money within the two months before his death, Estrada said.
Two of the people, including one among the accused doctors, were arrested on Thursday, Estrada said. Two of the defendants, including Iwamasa, have already pleaded guilty and a 3rd person has agreed to plead guilty.
Among those arrested Thursday is Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who faces seven counts of ketamine trafficking and two charges related to allegations that he falsified records following Perry’s death.
Plasencia appeared briefly in court Thursday afternoon and pleaded not guilty. He will be released on $100,000 bail.
Plasencia’s attorney, Stefan Sacks, asked that his client be allowed to proceed treating patients in his practice after his release. He said he had already surrendered his DEA license to prescribe dangerous drugs and that the Perry case was “isolated.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian V. Yanniello objected, saying Plasencia “acted essentially like a street drug dealer.”
Judge Alka Sagar ruled that Plasencia could only treat patients in the event that they signed a document stating that that they had been informed of the allegations against him.
“Ultimately, Dr. Plasencia operated with what he believed to be the best medical intent,” and his actions “certainly did not rise to the level of criminal misconduct,” Sacks said outside the courthouse. “His only concern was to provide the best medical care and not to cause harm,” Sacks said. “Unfortunately, harm was done. But that happened after he was involved.”
The other person charged within the case on Thursday was Jasveen Sangha, whom prosecutors described as a drug trafficker who was known to her customers because the “ketamine queen” – a nickname her lawyer dismissed during her trial as made up for the media. Ketamine supplied by Sangha caused Perry’s death, authorities said.
Sangha pleaded not guilty and was denied bail. She was initially arrested within the case and charged with possession of ketamine with the intent to resell. She was released on bail in March, with authorities keeping Perry’s involvement secret. However, a brand new indictment released Thursday alleges a direct connection to the actor’s death. The judge ruled that she should remain in custody amid concerns about prosecutors’ claims that she destroyed evidence and used money from drug sales to fund a lavish lifestyle.
If convicted, Plasencia could resist 120 years in prison, prosecutors said. Sangha could receive a life sentence.
According to records, Plasencia’s medical license is in good standing and has no complaints, even though it expires in October.
A San Diego doctor, Dr. Mark Chavez, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Prosecutors allege Chavez passed ketamine to Plasencia and obtained a few of the drug through a forged prescription from a wholesaler.
The prosecutor said the defendants exchanged messages shortly after Perry’s death citing ketamine because the reason behind death. Estrada said they deleted messages and falsified medical records to cover up their involvement.
Los Angeles police said in May they were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to analyze why the 54-year-old had a lot anesthetic in his body.
Iwamasa found the actor face down in his hot tub on October 28, and paramedics who were called to the scene immediately pronounced him dead.
The assistant obtained the ketamine from Erik Fleming, who pleaded guilty to obtaining the drug from Sangha and supplying it to Iwamasa. In total, he supplied 50 vials of ketamine to Perry, including 25 4 days before the actor’s death.
Perry’s autopsy, released in December, found that the quantity of ketamine in his blood was throughout the range of the quantity used for general anesthesia during surgery.
But his last proper treatment was 1 1/2 weeks ago, the coroner said, and the drug is generally broken down inside hours.
Estrada said Plasencia saw Perry freeze and his blood pressure skyrocket after injecting him with the drug, but still left several vials with Iwamura for the actor to inject later.
Several requests for comment from lawyers for Chavez, Iwamasa and Fleming remained unanswered Thursday.
The health worker listed ketamine as the first reason behind death. The death was ruled an accident, with no foul play suspected, the report said. Drowning and other medical problems were contributing aspects, the health worker said.
Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends. He became one among the most important television stars of his generation when he played Chandler Bing alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer in ten seasons of NBC’s mega-hit sitcom from 1994 to 2004.
In other cases, drug-related deaths of celebrities have led authorities to prosecute drug traffickers.
After rapper Mac Miller died of an overdose of cocaine, alcohol and counterfeit oxycodone containing fentanyl, two of the lads who supplied him with fentanyl were convicted of distributing the drug. One was sentenced to greater than 17 years in a federal prison and the opposite to 10 years.
And after Michael Jackson died in 2009 from a lethal dose of propofol – a drug that was only intended for use during operations and other medical procedures, but to not treat the insomnia the singer was in search of – his doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted of manslaughter in 2011. Murray has maintained his innocence to this present day.
___
Writer Michael Balsamo contributed from New York.
