The doctor accused of conspiring to distribute ketamine after Matthew Perry’s death is still seeing patients at an urgent care facility he operates in Calabasas.
Now facing criminal charges, Dr. Salvador Plasencia is prohibited by the Drug Enforcement Administration from prescribing controlled substances, but he can, under certain circumstances, continue to practice medicine, according to federal officials.
He has surrendered his DEA registration number, according to a sign posted Wednesday on the door of Malibu Canyon Urgent Care. The sign notes that he “still maintains a medical license issued by the State of California.”
Ciaran McEvoy, spokesman for US Atty. Martin Estrada’s Los Angeles office said Plasencia and the other doctor charged in Perry’s death — Mark Chavez — both surrendered their DEA licenses and therefore “cannot prescribe controlled substances.”
According to the state medical board, Plasencia’s medical license is active until October.
The 42-year-old doctor, known as Dr. P., was charged last week in the October “Friends” star’s death, along with Chavez, Perry’s personal assistant and two alleged drug dealers.
Plasencia faces one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to a federal investigation. If convicted, he faces 10 years for each ketamine-related charge and 20 years for each counterfeiting charge.
Despite the charges, Plasencia was allowed to continue practicing medicine, his attorney, Stefan Sacks, told The Times.
“The situation is that he announced in writing about the pending federal case, and the fact that he could not prescribe controlled substances. The patient was then required to sign a written consent form for treatment,” said Sacks. “So basically the requirement is disclosure and informed consent.”
On Wednesday, a woman approached the Calabasas clinic, read the notice on the door about the charges against Plasencia and then quickly returned to her vehicle.
Sacks said he would not comment further on the allegations against Plasencia until he receives findings from the U.S. attorney’s office detailing the allegations against his client. The doctor pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released in lieu of $100,000 bail. He returns to court in October.
Perry, 54, was found dead in the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades home on October 28. He died of “acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Plasencia is accused of obtaining ketamine for Perry and acting outside the scope of professional practice. Authorities say he not only distributed the drug that killed the actor, he also taught Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, how to inject it into the actor. Iwamasa is accused of giving Perry the fatal dose.
Perry, who had long been open about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, had sought treatment for depression and anxiety before his death, going to a local clinic where he became addicted to intravenous ketamine, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said. When the clinic’s doctors refused to increase the dosage, they turned to an outside source, Milgram said.
In late September, about a month before Perry’s death, Plasencia learned that the actor wanted to obtain ketamine, a legal drug commonly used as a sedative, according to documents charging the case. The drug can be abused recreationally, with users withdrawn due to its dissociative effects.
After learning of Perry’s interest, Plasencia contacted Chavez, who previously operated a ketamine clinic, to obtain the drug to sell to the actor, authorities said. In a text message to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for ketamine, stating, “I wonder how much this idiot is going to pay” and “Let’s find out,” according to court records.
Over the next few weeks, the doctors distributed 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $55,000 in cash, paying $2,000 for a bottle that cost Chavez $12, according to federal prosecutors and court records.
Court records show that in mid-October, Iwamasa also began obtaining ketamine for Perry from Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Queen of Ketamine,” and Hollywood producer Erik Fleming, who provided the drug at a lower cost than what the doctor was buying. Sangha sold about 50 vials of the drug to the actor, with Fleming delivering the product for $11,000, authorities said.
Like Plasencia, Sangha, 41, faces charges that include conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution of a drug causing death, possession with intent to distribute and altering and falsifying records related to a federal investigation, according to the indictment.
Fleming, 54, pleaded guilty this month to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of ketamine distribution causing death.
Iwamasa, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He also admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing several injections on the actor when he died, authorities said.