Actor Matthew Perry arrives at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on September 23, 2012. (AP)

Prosecutors reported that two doctors and the personal assistant of actor Matthew Perry have been among the five people detained and charged in connection with his death.

According to US attorney Martin Estrada, the doctors gave the Friends star a significant dose of ketamine before he passed away at his Los Angeles home in October 2023 and "took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves."

The 54-year-old had openly talked about his addiction problems. In an autopsy report from last year, the Los Angeles medical examiner stated that the actor was receiving ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety and depression at the time of his death. However, the examiner discovered significantly greater amounts of ketamine in the actor's circulation than would be predicted from the medication alone.

In May, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department announced that they were conducting a cooperative criminal investigation to find out how Perry obtained the prescription medicine and why there was so much of it in his system.

“That investigation has revealed a broad underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others,” Estrada stated on Thursday, adding, “This network included a live-in assistant, various go-betweens, two medical doctors and a major source of drug supply known as, quote: ‘the Ketamine Queen’.”

“They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr Perry, but they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr Perry than caring for his wellbeing,” he noted.

Perry's personal assistant participated in plot to obtain ketamine

According to documents obtained from a federal court in California and published by The New York Times, Perry's personal assistant is among the five individuals accused of participating in a plot to obtain ketamine worth thousands of dollars and give it to him.

Among those charged are Salvador Plasencia, a physician known as "Dr P," and Jasveen Sangha, dubbed "the Ketamine Queen" by the prosecution, according to the Times. The two are accused of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it, conspiring to distribute ketamine, distributing ketamine that causes death, and falsifying and tampering with documents pertaining to a federal investigation.

Perry's personal aide Kenneth Iwamasa was accused of conspiring to distribute ketamine, according to The Times, which quoted an individual with knowledge of the case. Additional charges were brought against Perry's acquaintance Erik Fleming and physician Mark Chavez.

According to court filings, Plasencia and Chavez exchanged text messages in which the former talked about purchasing ketamine to resell to Perry, the "victim MP."

Per The Times, Plasencia wrote, “I wonder how much this moron will pay”, and “let’s find out”.

In October 2023, Perry's body was discovered in the hot tub at his Los Angeles residence. "The acute effects of ketamine" were found to be the cause of death by the Los Angeles medical examiner's office. Contributing variables were drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder treatment drug.

Levels of ketamine in his blood comparable to those used during general anesthesia were discovered after an autopsy.

According to the autopsy report, "at the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression would be the main lethal effects." No foul play was found, and Perry's death was declared to be an accident.