Matthew Perry's assistant among 5 people, including 2 doctors, charged in 'Friends' star's death
assistant and two doctors have been charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death in what prosecutors called a «broad underground criminal network» dedicated to getting the «Friends» star the powerful surgical anesthetic that killed him.
The doctors preyed on Perry's history of addiction in the final months of his life last year to provide him with ketamine in amounts they knew were dangerous, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said as he announced the charges Thursday.
«They knew what they were doing was wrong,» Estrada said. «They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway.»
One doctor even wrote in a text message, «I wonder how much this moron will pay» and «Lets find out,» according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
Perry died in October due to a ketamine overdose and prosecutors said he received several injections on the day he died from his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who found Perry dead later that day and was the first to talk to investigators.
Ketamine has seen a huge surge in use in recent years as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. While the drug isn't approved for those conditions, doctors are free to prescribe drugs for so-called off-label uses.
Perry had been receiving regular ketamine infusion treatments for depression — in amounts not nearly enough to account for his death — from his regular doctors, who were not among those charged, authorities said.
When those doctors refused to give him more, he went in desperation to
