Matthew Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, from the acute effects of ketamine, and a federal investigation has now traced that death through doctors, an assistant and a black-market supplier. Perry was 54 when he was found unresponsive in a hot tub and pronounced dead at the scene.

The ketamine level in Perry's heart when he died was 3271 ng/ml, a figure that underscored just how much drug was in his system. Dr. Mark Chavez and Dr. Salvador Plasencia were the initial source of ketamine for Perry, and Plasencia injected him in one instance that produced an adverse reaction: Perry's blood pressure spiked and he was suddenly unable to move.

Bill Bodner said the doctors should have realized that giving the drug outside a hospital could be very dangerous. Instead, they continued to supply Perry with ketamine through his live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and they showed him how to inject Perry. Dr. Drew Pinsky called it mind-boggling that Iwamasa was given instructions from doctors on administering the drug.

The last injections Perry received from Chavez and Plasencia were on Oct. 12, 2023. After that, Perry and Iwamasa turned to ketamine through the black market, outside of doctors. On the day Perry died, Iwamasa injected him three times with ketamine supplied by Jasveen Sangha.

The investigation after Perry's death led to the arrests of Chavez, Plasencia, Iwamasa, Erik Fleming and Sangha. In August 2024, Iwamasa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Plasencia later pleaded guilty to four counts of ketamine distribution and in December was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, a $5,600 fine and a $400 special assessment. Chavez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and in December was sentenced to eight months of home confinement, three years of probation and community service. Sangha pleaded guilty in September 2025 to five federal charges.

Perry had been open about substance use and addiction throughout his life, including in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. The case also fed into broader questions about whether a crime was at the root of his death, a question that now has been answered by the guilty pleas and sentences that followed. A documentary episode titled Doctor Feelgoods is set to premiere Monday, May 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ID as part of Hollywood Demons.