August 16, 2024

"'I wonder how much this moron will pay,' Dr. Plasencia texted Dr. Chavez, who prosecutors said later supplied [Matthew Perry] with a total of 22 vials of ketamine and ketamine lozenges..."

"... obtained through a fraudulent prescription for the drug. 'Lets find out.' Dr. Chavez agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Dr. Plasencia, known as 'Dr. P.,' soon instructed [Perry's assistant, Kenneth] Iwamasa on how and where to inject ketamine into Mr. Perry’s body. 'Found the sweet spot but trying different places led to running out,' Mr. Iwamasa texted Dr. Plasencia on Oct. 4, according to court documents. Over the next several days, Mr. Iwamasa’s requests for ketamine became more urgent. 'I just ran out,' Mr. Iwamasa texted the doctor, who replied he had two vials to sell him if the assistant could meet him in downtown Santa Monica."

From "'Shoot Me Up With a Big One': The Pain of Matthew Perry’s Last Days/Court papers show that Mr. Perry, the 'Friends' star who had long struggled with addiction, was increasingly taking ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, in the days before he died" (NYT)("Mr. Iwamasa was one of five people who the authorities in California said this week had been charged with a conspiracy to distribute ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, to Mr. Perry. The defendants also included two doctors, a woman accused of being a dealer and an acquaintance who pleaded guilty to acting as a middleman").

33 comments:

wild chicken said...

So this ketamine stuff, which was touted as the answer to everything re mental health, is kinda like heroin? Good to know.

gilbar said...

so.. a drug addict used drug dealing doctors to overdose and die on drugs?
this must be one of those days that end in a "y" ?

Gusty Winds said...

This should qualify as some degree of murder or manslaughter.

Jamie said...

I know doctors are people too - they won't like, or certainly respect, all their patients. But... ugh.

Of course their drug dealing is horrific and the book must be thrown. But their callousness toward a man in psychic pain offends me too. It's putting me in mind of the thing I saw on X the other day about the dental assistants, I think? Who found the diary of one of their patients, also a cancer patient, and were reading it out to each other, laughing, on video. At least in that case they weren't cooperating in killing the person, and at least they did get fired.

William said...

I suppose there's a high profit margin being a dealer to the stars, but the downside is that should your client overdose, they'll come looking for you. I bet Hunter Biden has to pay boutique prices for his drugs. Ironically, the Biden administration wants to be known for lowering drug prices.

Levi Starks said...

I’m seeing this as assisted suicide.

MadisonMan said...

Dr. Placensia. Dr. Iwamasa. What fabulous names!

Iman said...

This kind of shoots that “first, do no harm” tenet squarely in its ass cheek.

Dave Begley said...

Same deal with sex changes; especially for minors.

Wince said...

"I wonder how much this moron will pay..."

The Democrats have been doing this to their constituents for decades.

robother said...

When you run out of Friends, Hollywood is full of people who are willing to be your "friend." I've always wondered about the street dealers who are literally killing their customers with fentanyl, but this shows even doctors who are charging $2000 for a $12 Ketamine capsule can't resist killing the goose that's laying the golden egg.

n.n said...

The audacity of publication is a compelling cause. Hoisted by their own Fani... petard.

Iman said...

Never underestimate the capacity for greed.

Ice Nine said...

Dr. Plasencia and Dr. Chavez - Darwin's little helpers...

Ice Nine said...

>This kind of shoots that “first, do no harm” tenet squarely in its ass cheek.<

A few miscreants breaching that largely revered ethic? Yeah, I don't think so.

Just some rando on the interwebz said...

Just another example of our two tier justice system. I doubt they are going so hard after some rando who OD's special K dealer.

Ice Nine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sydney said...

The worst doctors money can buy.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

100,000 dead every year from Fentanyl and no arrests. No sanctions on China or pressure on Mexico's cartels. Looks like Kartel Kamala will continue China Joe's policies there.

Iman said...

It certainly seemed to in their case, no? 🤨

Ice Nine said...

Yes, your hedge there is correct. Or are you actually forgetting that you said that it "shoots the tenet," not "it shoots these two individuals' loyalty to the tenet?"

Lazarus said...

I guess at this point Dr. Placenta wishes he's stuck to just delivering babies.

Grandpa Publius said...

Drug dealers are terrible people who do terrible things. But, what they do is give people what they want.

G-Pub

BarrySanders20 said...

They say these are victimless crimes.

Old and slow said...

Actually,it is nothing at all like heroin. I would describe ketamin as being as I imagine it would be like to be very close to dead. Complete loss of self awareness. Absolute. It's an experience I would never want to repeat. I've been a heroin addict, and ketamin is another sort of beast altogether.

Michael K said...

There is a category of doctors that cluster around celebrities. These are examples.

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JIM said...

I wonder what motivated Matthew Perry to require that much anesthesia. Was he in a deep depression? What these people did was sordid and unethical to be sure. What a tragedy.

KellyM said...

It's my understanding that he did battle depression and had been abusing alcohol and other drugs going as far back as his days on "Friends". When that short-lived sitcom reboot of "The Odd Couple" was on I thought he'd made a clean break and was getting things together. The show was well-written, and Perry's portrayal of the Oscar Madison character was amusing. He could really deliver a line. I wonder if the show's demise had anything to do with the relapse.

Yancey Ward said...

If he had been named Matthew Smith who died in a small bungalow in Oxnard, no one would have even bothered to investigate this.

svlc said...

So, when does Perry actually get blamed for his own conduct and choices? Choices have consequences, and his choices seemed to be quite bad.

Indigo Red said...

Perry's addictions started when he only a few months old. To get the baby to sleep, gave him prescription barbiturates from their pediatrician to treat colic. As a teen he began drinking alcohol with his buddies like teens will do and became an alcoholic. The booze helped him with his sleep problem and exacerbated teenage angst. Later, Perry suffered an jet ski accident on set of a movie. He was prescribed Vicodin for pain. When he could no longer get that, he went for OxyContin. Overuse of Oxy caused his colon to burst and, of course, he was prescribed more pain meds which were never enough.

Yes, he was in a deep depression. Chronic pain, real or imagined, will cause or heighten depression along with the concomitant lack of self-esteem and confidence. He could make others feel better by making them laugh and make himself feel better with drugs and alcohol.

All this because his parents were annoyed by their crying baby, Matthew never learned to deal with physical and emotional pain consequently relying on resources outside of himself to make the pain go away.

Indeed, what a tragedy. One that happens countless times in this country.

Mikey NTH said...

I recall a Raymond Chandler story where the wife of a doctor who did his nightly rounds keeping the Hollywood folks properly medicated died. In other words an old story.