On the day of his death, Friends actor Matthew Perry had asked his assistant to “shoot him up with a big” dose of ketamine, a powerful anaesthetic, even though he had already received two doses of the drug that day, the assistant who has been charged in the actor’s death told the court.
Kenneth Iwamasa, the actor’s live-in personal assistant, said he gave Mr Perry his first ketamine shot at around 8.30 am. About four hours later, he administered another dose. But just 40 minutes after that, the actor asked for more.
“Shoot me up with a big one,” Mr. Perry told him and asked him to prepare his hot tub.
After giving him the drugs, he left the house to run some errands and when he returned he found Mr Perry dead in the indoor pool, he told the court.
Officials say the TV actor had become increasingly reliant on ketamine therapy to deal with his depression. Ketamine, a strong anaesthetic with psychedelic properties, is sometimes used as an alternative therapy for depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.
However, when doctors at medical clinics refused to increase his dosage, Mr Perry sought illegal channels to acquire the powerful drug.
There were warning signs
Authorities claim that in the months leading up to his death due to a drug overdose, the actor was desperately becoming reliant on the drug, even buying a large amount of it just weeks before his death.
Those around him, including his assistant, a doctor as well a drug dealer in Hollywood have been charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine to the actor even though they had seen the adverse effects of it.
In the last months of his life, his assistant found the Friends actor unconscious at his home after a heavy dose of the drug, even losing the ability to speak or move.
Yet, he continued to procure more of the drug for Mr Perry.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” the defense lawyer told The New York Times.
“They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being,” he said.
“Ketamine Queen” of Hollywood
Among the five people who have been charged in actor Matthew Perry’s death due to a drug overdose last year is a woman called Jasveen Sangha, dubbed the “Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles”
The dual British and American citizen has been charged with supplying the lethal dose of ketamine that killed the 54-year-old American actor last year.
Weeks before his death, Sangha supplied over 50 vials of ketamine to the actor’s assistant.
Sangha allegedly ran a drug empire out of her Hollywood home where she stored, packaged, and sold methamphetamines, cocaine and prescription drugs. When her house was raided, police found 79 bottles of liquid ketamine and nearly 2,000 meth pills.
She has been tied to another case of ketamine overdose in 2019.
After Mr Perry’s death, Sangha told his assistant to delete messages between them that allegedly showed her asking for online payments and providing instruction on the strength of the drug dosage.
“Within days of receiving this text, defendant Sangha confirmed that ketamine can kill by conducting a Google search for ‘can ketamine be listed as a cause of?'” the indictment alleges, adding that just two weeks after the actor’s death, she took a trip to Tokyo.