On December 3, Salvador Plasencia, a doctor who supplied ketamine to Matthew Perry weeks before the actor’s 2023 overdose death, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Plasencia had pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He is the first to be sentenced among another five people convicted in connection to the case.
According to the autopsy report, the ‘Friends’ star died as a result of the acute effects of ketamine. The actor was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at home in Los Angeles.
Indeed, excessive use of ketamine can be dangerous and, in some cases, fatal. Nonetheless, ketamine and the use of other psychedelics for mental health disorders has become a more mainstream topic over the past few years. This is probably because, among other reasons, the clinical use of these drugs for treatment-resistant depression and anxiety paints a much different picture than the typical, party drug image these substances were associated with in the past.
But just how much research has been completed on the long-term effects of this kind of therapy, and why are so many clinics popping up? Click on to learn more about ketamine therapy and how it works.