Doctor charged in Matthew Perry case ‘incredibly remorseful’ for role in actor’s death: Lawyer
Yep, there’s still more news from the Matthew Perry case. One of the accused physicians — a Dr. Chavez — has now said he will change his plea to guilty, in terms of having supplied the ketamine that killed the TV celebrity on October 28 of last year.
A likely reason for the change of heart: the threat of a long prison sentence had he gone to trial and been convicted. In addition, he’s offered to surrender his license to practice medicine.
It seems that Chavez did not deliver the ketamine to Perry in person, but went through a second physician, a colleague, with the full knowledge that Perry would be the ultimate destination. The actor’s assistant served as an intermediary, allegedly administering the last doses of ketamine to the victim.
From ABC News: “The Department of Justice claims Chavez was part of an underground criminal network that used Perry as a personal piggy bank by illegally selling him ketamine.”
Sounds as if Perry probably wasn’t the only customer, either. Photos were exchanged of the ketamine on offer. Perry was known for paying top dollar for quality pharmacy-grade product.
These may be criminals, but they aren’t cheap criminals.
Point of interest: Chavez had formerly been co-owner of one of the many ketamine therapy programs that have popped up around the US. The second physician involved in the case is an internist, and still practicing medicine in Southern California. For now, at least.
Other characters have emerged, including a woman known as “the ketamine queen.” I’m not sure if the title was because she was a great source or a particularly heavy consumer. Perhaps both?
I suppose if there is a lesson to be learned, it’s that in situations such as this, the line between villain and victim can become blurred. It can seem like a cooperative effort that somehow went wrong, with tragic results.
And now that we know more about Matthew Perry’s long, long history of substance problems, it may have been sheer luck that a fatality hadn’t already occurred, long before that night in October.
