Matthew Perry's doctor has appealed his sentence in connection with the actor's death

Matthew Perry's doctor has appealed his sentence in connection with the actor's death.

The late Friends star died from accidental drowning caused by the acute effects of ketamine use in October 2023, and Dr. Salvador Placencia was one of five people convicted of crimes relating to his passing and was the first to be sentenced in December 2025, given a 30-month prison term.

According to a defense brief obtained by People magazine, the doctor has argued he received a harsher sentence for violating a position of trust as a medical professional, when he was "nothing more than a drug dealer".

The medic's lawyers argued their client - who pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine as part of a plea agreement - was not acting as a doctor when he sold the drug to Matthew.

They wrote: “Instead, he was nothing more than a drug dealer. There was therefore no abuse of a position of trust or use of a special skill.

“Mr. Perry saw appellant for what he was in this case, namely, a drug dealer, who happened to have an 'M.D.' after his name.

There was no fiduciary relationship in existence and Perry did not grant appellant any discretion as a treating physician.”

Placencia's lawyers argued he was "punished more severely on account of his professional status even though he did not abuse a position of trust or use a special skill in selling Ketamine to Mr. Perry."