Recent court documents have uncovered the final words of Friends star Matthew Perry before his tragic death. The beloved actor, who passed away at the age of 54 in October last year, was reportedly undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to manage his depression and anxiety.
According to reports, Perry had requested his long-time assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, to administer ketamine three times on the day of his death. His last communication with Iwamasa was a request for what would be his fatal dose. As per the court papers obtained by NBC News, Perry’s final words were, “shoot me up with a big one,” just hours before he was found unresponsive in his hot tub.
The court documents surfaced following the arrest of Iwamasa, 59, along with four others, on charges related to providing Perry with the ketamine that led to his death on Thursday, August 15. Among those arrested were two doctors and a North Hollywood woman dubbed “the Ketamine Queen.”
U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada revealed that the suspects include Perry’s assistant, two medical professionals, and Jasveen Sangha, the alleged supplier known as the “Ketamine Queen.” The indictment, unsealed in Los Angeles federal court, suggests that Iwamasa and an acquaintance of Perry's, Erik Fleming, collaborated with doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez to secure substantial quantities of ketamine for the actor in the weeks preceding his fatal overdose. Sangha is charged with supplying the lethal doses.
The court documents also detail Perry’s final hours, noting that he requested his first ketamine dose at 8:30 AM on October 28. He received a second dose four hours later while watching a movie at his $5.3 million Los Angeles home. Later, Perry asked Iwamasa for a third dose and to prepare his hot tub. Upon returning from errands, Iwamasa discovered Perry’s lifeless body.
Dr. Plasencia, who had previously administered ketamine to Perry, allegedly trained Iwamasa on how to inject the drug in exchange for $4,500. The indictment also suggests that Dr. Plasencia viewed Perry as a "cash cow," as evidenced by text messages exchanged with Chavez. When Plasencia experienced supply issues, the group turned to Sangha, who boasted about having a “master chef” producing ketamine for her. Sangha reportedly provided Perry with ketamine lollipops as a bonus for his large purchases.
In the days leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa administered at least 15 ketamine injections supplied by Sangha. On October 28, Iwamasa delivered the final three doses using syringes provided by Dr. Plasencia.
Initially ruled as an accidental death by a medical examiner, Perry’s case was closed until an investigation was launched nearly seven months later to trace the source of the ketamine. The inquiry, involving the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), aims to understand how Perry came to possess such large quantities of the drug.
His autopsy, released in December, confirmed the amount of ketamine in Perry’s system was consistent with doses used for general anesthesia. However, his last documented infusion therapy occurred over a week and a half before his death. The coroner noted that the ketamine found in his system could not have come from that therapy, as the drug’s half-life is only three to four hours.
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