Doctor pleads guilty in Matthew Perry overdose death

A doc charged successful the drug-related decease of histrion Matthew Perry has pleaded blameworthy successful the case.

Dr Mark Chavez changed his plea to blameworthy successful a Los Angeles tribunal to a complaint of conspiring to administer the surgical anaesthetic ketamine.

Chavez, 54, operated a ketamine session and sold ketamine lozenges to Dr Salvador Plasencia, who supplied them to Perry, the prima of NBC sitcom Friends.

In his plea agreement, Chavez admitted helium obtained ketamine from some his erstwhile session and a wholesale distributor done a fraudulent prescription, records show.

Chavez is 1 of 5 radical charged successful Perry's death. The 54-year-old histrion was recovered dormant successful his backyard jacuzzi successful confederate California successful October 2023.

A post-mortem introspection recovered a precocious attraction of the cause ketamine successful his humor and determined "acute effects" of the substance had killed him.

Ketamine is an anaesthetic utilized arsenic a attraction for depression, anxiousness and pain. It is 50 times much potent than heroin.

Prosecutors said Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked with the 2 doctors to supply the histrion with much than $50,000 (£38,000) of ketamine successful the weeks earlier his death.

According to the indictment, the 2 aesculapian doctors exchanged texts conspiring implicit however overmuch they could complaint Perry for vials of the drug, with 1 connection reading: "I wonderment however overmuch this moron volition pay."

The plea allows Chavez to plead blameworthy to a lesser complaint for his co-operation successful the investigation, though helium inactive could inactive look up to 10 years successful prison.

Chavez has turned implicit his passport and agreed to surrender his aesculapian licence immediately.

He is escaped connected bail until sentencing connected 2 April 2025.