Newly-released texts between Dr. Mark Chavez and Dr. Salvador Plasencia reveal more details about how the pair played an alleged role in Matthew Perry’s death.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Chavez submitted a fraudulent prescription for 30 ketamine lozenges for Plasencia to give to Perry under the name of a different patient in July 2023. Chavez allegedly continued to illegally sell ketamine to Plasencia, which Plasencia would provide to the actor, until around the time of Perry’s death in October 2023.
In one instance, Chavez allegedly sold Plasencia at least four vials of liquid ketamine and ketamine lozenges for $2,000, which Plasencia gave to Perry at his Los Angeles home. Plasencia allegedly injected Perry with the ketamine and left behind at least one vial and several syringes.
In a September 2023 text to Chavez, Plasencia described his visit to Perry’s home as being “like a bad movie.”
Two months after Matthew Perry died at age 54 in October 2023, his death was ruled an accident. That ruling proved to be far from the end of the story. A December 2023 toxicology report concluded that Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine.” The report noted that Perry had been receiving regular ketamine […]
Before another meeting with Perry one month later, Plasencia wrote in a separate text to Chavez, “[If] today goes well we may have repeat business.” According to the court docs, Chavez allegedly replied, “Let’s do everything we can to make it happen.”
That same month, Plasencia allegedly texted Chavez that he thought it “would be best served not having [Perry] look elsewhere” for ketamine and for them to be “his got-to.” Chavez responded by stating he was “working on getting more” ketamine.
Dr. Mark Chavez The Health MD/Facebook
Around three weeks before Perry’s death, per court paperwork, Chavez reprimanded Plasencia for unsafely injecting Perry with ketamine, leaving behind vials for Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, to administer and injecting Perry with ketamine while in the back of a car in a Long Beach, California parking lot.
Matthew Perry Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Not long after, Chavez discovered he was under investigation by the Medical Board of California for improperly taking ketamine from his former clinic. Around that same time, Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez about running the ketamine division of a clinic he wanted to set up. Calling the idea “interesting,” Chavez told Plasencia he would agree to the job “as long as we are doing things on the up and up we can start ASAP” and that everything was “done legally without any shady stuff.”
Mike Pont/WireImage Five people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from the investigation into Friends actor Matthew Perry’s death, the US Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday, August 15. An autopsy revealed that Perry died as a result of the “acute effects of ketamine” on October 28, 2023. His personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, as well […]
After some questioning from Plasencia, Chavez stated in another message: “It’s not what I think it’s what an entity like the California medical board would view it … Or the DEA.”
Per the court docs, Chavez called Plasencia following news of Perry’s passing to express concern about whether the ketamine they gave the Friends alum could have played a part in his death.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia Salvador Plasencia/patientfusion
In December 2023, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office ruled that Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine.” Chavez and Plasencia are two of five people facing federal charges in connection to Perry’s death, including Iwamasa, Erik Fleming and the “Ketamine Queen,” Jasveen Sangha.
Iwamasa and Fleming have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. Chavez has also agreed to a plea deal, according to the court docs obtained by Us.
Celebrities like Matthew Perry, Chrissy Teigen and others have been open about using ketamine infusion therapy to help treat mental health conditions. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects” and “can induce a state of sedation, immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia.” It […]
Sangha, who has pleaded not guilty, could face a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison if found guilty on five counts of ketamine distribution. Plasencia, for his part, also pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, two counts of altering and falsifying documents related to the investigation and seven counts of distribution of ketamine.
Plasencia has also been forced to surrender his DEA license and could face up to 120 years in prison.
