Mark Chavez, the 54-year-old doctor implicated in the case regarding the death of the US actor of the cult TV series “Friends” due to a ketamine overdose, appeared in court on Friday, NBC News said.
In the first appearance in Los Angeles court, Chavez told the judge he understood his rights. He faces one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and is expected to plead guilty at a later date. Earlier this month, Chavez signed an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute the surgical anaesthetic ketamine.
I do agree to obey to all conditions.
US Magistrate Judge Jean Rosenbluth allowed Chavez to remain free on $50,000 unsecured bail with certain conditions, including surrendering his passport and agreeing to no longer practice medicine. He agreed to surrender his medical licence.
He’s incredibly remorseful, not just because it happened to Matthew Perry, but because it happened to a patient. He’s trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here. He didn’t accept responsibility today, but only because it wasn’t on the calendar, Chavez’s lawyer Matthew Binninger said outside court with the doctor standing at his side.
“He’s doing everything in his power to cooperate and help with this situation. He has already entered into an interim suspension of his medical license, so he effectively cannot practice medicine at this point, and the reason for that is to set up a surrender of his medical license,” Binninger added.
In announcing a series of charges against a number of defendants this month, federal investigators said that two others – Kenneth Iwamasa, a personal assistant who lives with Perry, and Eric Fleming, another Perry acquaintance – have pleaded guilty in the case. Two others arrested, including Jaswin Sangha, 41, and Salvador Plasencia, 42, have not pleaded guilty in Perry’s death.
“We allege each of the defendants played a key role in his death by falsely prescribing, selling or injecting the ketamine that caused Matthew Perry’s tragic death,” according to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram. “The actor’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,” she added.
Matthew Perry died on 28 October. The medical examiner ruled that the primary cause of death was ketamine, which the actor had been taking through his regular doctor as part of a legitimate but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.
Before his death, he spoke candidly about his struggles with alcohol and opioid addiction and said in his 2022 memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing” that he went to rehab 15 times before finding long-term sobriety.
