Matthew Perry's doctors are no longer legally allowed to prescribe medication

Matthew Perry's doctors are no longer legally allowed to prescribe medication.

Medics Mark Chavez, 54, and Salvador Plasencia, 42, are facing charges over their alleged roles in distributing ketamine to the late ‘Friends’ actor, who died on 28 October 2023, aged 54, from the “acute effects” of the anaesthetic.

And now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has clarified to E! News that they have given up their right to advise and authorise the use of a medicine or treatment.

The US Department of Justice announced last Thursday (15.08.24) that Plasencia is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine plus seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.

Chavez agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine – confirming in his plea agreement he sold ketamine to Plasencia off-market for Matthew to use.

The actor is thought to have paid the pair upward of $55,000 in cash in the weeks leading up to his sudden death.

US Attorney Martin Estrada said about the duo: “These defendants cared more about profiting off of Mr Perry than caring for his well-being.

“Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday, to street dealers who gave him ketamine in unmarked vials.”

Three other people have been charged over Matthew’s death in the hot tub of his LA mansion, including his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, who has admitted regularly injecting the actor with ketamine despite having no medical training.