Five of Matthew Perry's acquaintances have been charged with supplying ketamine to the actor, which led to his fatal drug overdose on Oct. 28, 2023.

The 54-year-old sitcom star was found unresponsive in his home's swimming pool in Los Angeles.

An autopsy found that Perry had died from the acute effects of ketamine, a strong anaesthetic used to treat depression, anxiety, and pain.

The BBC reported that Perry, who was a recovering drug addict, had been undergoing supervised ketamine infusion therapy.

But the medical examiner ruled it out as the cause of Perry's death, as his last session had taken place more than a week before he was found dead, and ketamine has a short half-life.

The levels of ketamine found in the actor's body were said to match that of general anaesthesia.

Relapse

Perry's self-deprecating character in "Friends", Chandler Bing, was always counted upon to lighten the mood and elicit laughter.

But his jesting persona on screen belied the actor's troubled personal life, in which he struggled to fight against substance abuse.

In 2016, Perry told BBC Radio 2 that three years of filming "Friends" were a blur to him, as he'd been drinking and taking drugs.

His memoir noted that he'd recovered from his addiction and had been mostly sober since 2001, "save for about 60 or 70 mishaps".

But he slipped back into dark habits in late 2023.

"Took advantage of his addiction"

Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, saw a chance to profit off his boss' addiction.

He worked with two doctors, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, to supply Perry with over US$50,000 (S$66,044) worth of ketamine in the weeks leading up to his death.

Plasencia is accused of giving Perry ketamine "outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose."

He allegedly taught Iwamasa how to inject Perry with ketamine without proper safety procedures and surveillance, reported the BBC.

Iwamasa injected Perry with at least 27 shots of ketamine in the four days before his death.

He'd ignored Plasencia's advice, which warned him against giving Perry a large dose of ketamine, after a similar dosage earlier that month had caused him to "freeze up".

Attempted cover up

Perry also received dozens of vials of ketamine from Jasveen Sangha — nicknamed "the Ketamine Queen" — and broker, Eric Fleming.

Fleming, Iwamasa, and Chavez have since pleaded guilty.

Plasencia and Sangha, on the other hand, did not. They currently face tentative trial dates set for October 2024.

Upon hearing of Perry's death, Plasencia went back to falsify Perry's medical records in an attempt to cover their trial, according to the BBC.

Sangha allegedly texted those involved saying, "Delete all our messages".

In the weeks leading up to Perry's death, Plasencia had allegedly wrote in a text message: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

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Top images via @mattyperry4/Instagram and @vivxxedits/TikTok