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Matthew Perry was found dead in his home’s hot tub with high levels of ketamine in his system (file)
Los Angeles:
The tragic death of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry has highlighted the secret and toxic relationship that has long existed between troubled celebrities and the doctors who treat their addictions.
Perry, who had a long history of substance abuse, was found dead last year in the hot tub of his luxury Los Angeles home with extremely high levels of ketamine in his system.
Federal drug officials said the star became addicted while seeking treatment for depression and “turned to unscrupulous doctors” when legal sources refused to increase his dosage.
“Instead of ‘doing no harm,’ they did harm so they could make more money,” Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration told a news conference this week.
The charges against doctors Salvador Plasencia, who has pleaded not guilty, and Mark Chavez, who has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seem eerily reminiscent of other celebrity cases.
For example, Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for administering a lethal dose of a powerful surgical anesthetic to the megastar.
The deaths of pop icons, from Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe to Prince and Tom Petty, have all been linked to the fatal consumption of controlled substances obtained from medical professionals.
“The rules go out the window with famous people, and it leads to tragedies all the time,” said Harry Nelson, a prominent Los Angeles health care attorney. “It’s crazy.”
‘A trap’
Financial gain is often an important motive.
Plasencia allegedly sold bottles worth $12 for up to $2,000 to Perry, and even sent a message to Chavez: “I wonder how much this idiot will pay… Let’s [sic] find out.”
But Nelson, who has been personally involved in more than a dozen “front-page and front-page news tragedies” involving famous actors, rock stars and athletes, said the full picture is often more complicated.
Celebrities have a real need for privacy. Going to a doctor for a prescription, followed by a pharmacy to pick up the medication, is not feasible for restless A-listers who are often hounded by paparazzi.
Yet physicians can be quickly impressed by the “romance and excitement” of being close to world-famous stars, who are likely to exhibit a greater “sense of entitlement” regarding their treatment demands than typical patients.
In order to “stay in that person’s good graces and continue to play this privileged role,” doctors may ultimately rationalize: “I’m going to do what that person wants, even if it’s against my better judgment,” Nelson said.
“But it is a trap. It is a trap for both the celebrity patient and the doctor,” he added.
‘Ketamine parties’
The use of ketamine as a ‘party drug’ due to its dissociative and hallucinatory effects exploded onto the scene in the 1990s.
According to Nelson, in the mid-2000s, “ketamine parties” held in private homes around Los Angeles were regularly attended by major stars.
“You had a handful of doctors in Los Angeles facilitating these, literally, parties, where everyone was doing ketamine infusions at a celebrity house, in Malibu, on the beach,” he said.
The medical board cracked down on these doctors, disciplining or revoking the licenses of some of them.
Today, the drug is increasingly used for the legitimate treatment of depression and PTSD.
Southern California has become a hub for private rehabilitation clinics that offer absolute privacy — for extravagant fees — to celebrities and the ultra-wealthy, Nelson said.
In the Perry case, Chavez previously operated a ketamine clinic.
‘Freedoms’
But the drug, which can cause health effects including loss of consciousness and breathing problems, should only be administered under the supervision of a doctor, and patients are meant to be closely monitored.
Plasencia allegedly handed over vials of ketamine to Perry’s assistant — and even met him on a street corner at midnight a few weeks before the actor’s death for a $6,000 cash exchange, according to the indictment.
“The idea that someone can just take it home and get in the hot tub while taking this drug is criminal, it’s irresponsible,” Nelson said.
“The doctors who did this undoubtedly felt that they could take some liberties because they were dealing with a famous person who needed more privacy.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)