Matthew Perry’s family appeals to those accused in the actor’s death a year later

A year after his death, Matthew Perry’s family is opening up about their loss and how they feel about those charged in the actor’s death.

Perry, who played Chandler Bing on Friends, was found unconscious in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. A medical examiner later ruled that he died due to the “acute effects of the ketamine” he had used. I used it through my regular doctor. But when that doctor didn’t prescribe a higher dosage, the actor began getting it through other people, and now five suspects have been charged in connection with his death.

In an interview with “Today” On Monday’s broadcast, Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, said she was “thrilled” by the five indictments. And Perry’s stepfather, Dateline NBC correspondent Keith Morrison, said they are sending a signal to others involved in the drug trade that accountability is coming.

“What I hope – and I think the agencies that were involved in this hope – is that the people who got into the business of supplying people with the drugs that will kill them, that they are now aware that it doesn’t matter what your professional background is. You’re failing, baby,” Morrison told Today show host Savannah Guthrie.

Dr. Mark Chavez is one of three people who have pleaded guilty in Perry’s fatal overdose. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and has agreed to cooperate as U.S. prosecutors pursue more serious charges against Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an indictment alleging he supplied the drug.

The other three people charged in the case include Jaswin Sangha, who authorities say is known as the “Ketamine Queen” and was the source of his supply, although she has pleaded not guilty, Perry assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and an acquaintance of the actor, who both pleaded guilty . . Iwamasu was accused of injecting Perry with ketamine, and Fleming was accused of distributing the drug.

Perry has spoken openly about his years-long struggle with alcohol and drug abuse and his hope to help others in their struggles, especially in his 2022 memoir after he got sober. In an interview with Today, the actor’s parents and three sisters agreed that, in their opinion, he did not even admit that he had relapsed at the time of his death.

Morrison also said People that Perry “somehow believed that this particular drug he was taking was not addictive and would not kill him. And, of course, that’s how it was.”

But the family now hopes they can fulfill Perry’s “dying wish”, which Mr Morrison said people should remember “for helping other people”.

“It has now become our mission in life to make that wish come true,” he told the publication.

This mission exists within the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, which is run by Suzanne and Perry’s half-sister Caitlin. There is also the US-based Matthew Perry Foundation, whose website mission statement states that it is “the realization of Matthew’s lifelong commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction.”