Five people have been arrested and charged in connection to “Friends” star Matthew Perry’s death from “the acute effects of ketamine” last October.
During a Thursday press conference, Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, announced a shocking “number of charges against the five defendants,” including a doctor, Salvador Plasencia, and Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa.
“The defendants in this case knew what they were doing was wrong,” Estrada said.
“It is a drug that must be administered by medical professionals, and the patient must be monitored closely. That did not occur here,” Estrada added during the conference, saying that after Perry’s death “these defendants tried to cover up what they did.”
Estrada issued a warning for those who are engaging with similar actions as the allegations leveled at the five defendants: “You are playing roulette with other people’s lives, just like these five defendants here did to Mr. Perry.”
In May, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the joint investigation in an emailed statement to USA TODAY.
“Based on the Medical Examiner’s findings, the Los Angeles Police Department, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Postal Inspection Service, has continued its investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Perry’s death,” the statement read.
In December, more than a month after Perry’s death, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office released Perry’s autopsy report, which was obtained by USA TODAY. His death was ruled an accident, with the cause being “the acute effects of ketamine.” Contributing factors were drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine.
Buprenorphine is “an opioid-like drug used in the treatment of opioid addiction as well as acute and chronic pain,” according to Perry’s 29-page autopsy report. There were no signs of “fatal trauma and no foul play suspected,” per the report.
Source: usatoday.com
