Matthew Perry Case: Doctor Pleads Guilty to Supplying Him With Ketamine

Dr. Mark Chavez, a doctor accused of supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute the drug, NPR reports.

On Wednesday, Chavez appeared in federal court in Los Angeles for a change of plea hearing during which he said that he, along with a second doctor, Salvador Plasencia, first began supplying the Friends actor with ketamine around last September.

Plasencia would reportedly obtain ketamine vials and lozenges from Chavez in exchange for money. Chavez had previously filed a fraudulent prescription for thirty 200-milligram lozenges earlier that year but knew that Plasencia lacked experience with ketamine.

Despite Plasencia alleging that Perry was using the substance to curb a smoking habit, Chavez supposedly knew this was not an effective method to do so.

Vials of the drug were allegedly left by Plasencia to Perry and his assistant so that the actor could administer the drug himself. NPR notes that in one instance, Plasencia allegedly gave Perry three injections of ketamine worth 260 milligrams and planned to give him another 100-milligram dose within an hour, which Chavez acknowledged to be dangerous.

As previously reported, Perry’s assistant was charged in August in connection to his death.

The plea deal also revealed text messages between the doctors that may have expressed their efforts to keep Perry as a customer. One of those alleged text messages from Chavez said, “working on getting more” and “you should sell him the troches.” Another text from Plasencia allegedly said, “[If] today goes well we may have repeat business,” and “I think it would be best served not having him look elsewhere and [be] his go to,” per NPR’s review of the plea deal.

Elsewhere in the plea, Chavez reportedly admitted fraudulent means of obtaining the drug. The doctor admitted to lying on documents about selling the drugs to a third party and listed his employer as Dreamscape Ketamine, despite leaving the company in July 2023 over a dispute with his business partner.

On Oct. 12, Perry had a dangerous reaction to ketamine that led to a spike in his blood pressure. The incident happened around the time Chavez realized he was under investigation by the Medical Board of California. He subsequently broke all professional ties with Plasencia.

Perry was found dead in his hot tub at his Los Angeles residence on Oct. 28, 2023. He was 54.

The toxicology report stated that he died of “acute effects of ketamine,” with contributing factors such as drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (a drug used to treat opioid use disorder).

An investigation of Perry’s untimely death led the Los Angeles Police Department to call on multiple federal agencies to assist.

Per NPR, Chavez is currently out on bond and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, with sentencing set for April.