Ketamine Queen Pleads Guilty in Matthew Perry Death
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The “Ketamine Queen” Pleads Guilty in Matthew Perry’s Death: A Growing Crisis of Unsupervised Treatment
By Tim Stellah, Pulitzer Prize-winning Chief Editor
The shadow of Matthew Perry’s tragic death continues to lengthen, with Jasveen Sangha, 42, a California woman known as the “Ketamine Queen,” agreeing to plead guilty to federal drug charges in connection with the actor’s fatal overdose two years ago. This development marks another step in unraveling the circumstances surrounding Perry’s death and shines a harsh light on the growing, and frequently enough unregulated, world of ketamine therapy.
Sangha faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Her attorney, Mark Geragos, stated she is “taking responsibility for her actions.”
This guilty plea follows similar admissions from two doctors and Perry’s live-in personal assistant, all implicated in the distribution of ketamine leading up to his death. Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in the heated end of his Pacific Palisades pool on October 28, 2023.The Los Angeles county Medical Examiner’s Office steadfast the cause of death to be an accidental overdose of ketamine – a drug initially known as a party drug, but increasingly used off-label for treatment of depression and anxiety.Perry was openly candid about his decades-long battle with addiction and had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy in an attempt to manage his depression and anxiety.However, prosecutors allege he sought – and received – unsupervised doses, leading to a perilous dependence on the drug. The amount of ketamine found in his system at the time of death was equivalent to that used for anesthesia.
The investigation revealed that sangha, working with an acquaintance, Erik fleming, allegedly supplied Perry with the ketamine. Fleming has also pleaded guilty to related charges. This case raises serious questions about the accessibility and oversight of ketamine treatment, and the potential for abuse when it’s obtained outside of a controlled medical setting.
The rise of ketamine therapy as a treatment for mental health conditions has been rapid, fueled by promising early research. Though, the lack of consistent regulation and the potential for self-medication and illicit sourcing pose significant risks. Perry’s death serves as a stark reminder of these dangers, and a call for greater scrutiny and responsible practices within the burgeoning field of ketamine-assisted therapy.
This is a developing story, and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.