Matthew Perry doctor ordered not to practice medicine ahead of guilty plea

A doctor who has agreed to plead guilty in connection with the overdose death of Friends actor Matthew Perry was ordered Friday, Aug. 30 by a judge not to practice medicine.

Mark Chavez, 54, who will admit conspiracy to distribute ketamine as part of a plea deal reached with authorities, was released on $50,000 (P2.8 million) bond at a Los Angeles court.

Chavez is one of five people facing federal charges over the October 2023 tragedy in which Perry, a longtime addict, was found unresponsive in the pool at his luxury Los Angeles home.

Two others caught in the dragnet—a live-in assistant and an acquaintance—have already agreed to plead guilty to their charges.

Another doctor—Salvador Plasencia—allegedly bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to the desperate star at hugely inflated prices, musing "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

Jasveen Sangha, the alleged "Ketamine Queen" who supplied drugs to high-end clients and celebrities, is charged with selling Perry the dose that killed him.

Both Plasencia and Sangha face one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, as well as a raft of other charges, which they have denied.

Their trials have been set for October, and both face lengthy prison terms if found guilty.

Chavez, who admitted in his plea agreement to selling ketamine to Plasencia, including doses that he had diverted from his former ketamine clinic, is expected to formally enter his plea in the coming days or weeks.

Perry played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom from 1994 to 2004 and talked openly of his decades-long battles with addiction.

He had been taking ketamine, a controlled drug, as part of supervised therapy.

Doctors and veterinarians use ketamine as an anesthetic, and researchers have explored its use as a treatment for depression. 

Underground users take it for its hallucinogenic effects, though it can be addictive and dangerous for people with underlying health problems.

Friends, which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating, and careers, drew a massive global following and made megastars of previously unknown actors.

Perry's role as the sarcastic man-child Chandler brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a dark struggle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.

In 2018, he suffered a drug-related burst colon, and underwent multiple surgeries.

In his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry described going through detox dozens of times.

"I have mostly been sober since 2001," he wrote, "save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps." (AFP)