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Dr. Salvador Plasencia Biography – Dr. Salvador Plasencia Wiki
Dr. Salvador Plasencia is a Santa Monica area doctor and one of five people charged in the death of actor Matthew Perry from a ketamine overdose on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54. On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine during a hearing in Los Angeles.
Plasencia stood next to his lawyer and said “guilty” four times for four different counts before Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in federal court in Los Angeles. He spoke only to answer the judge’s questions. When asked if his lawyers had considered all the possibilities of pleas and sentencing in the case, Plasencia replied, “They’ve considered everything.”
“Dr. Plasencia is profoundly remorseful for the treatment decisions he made while providing ketamine to Matthew Perry,” the doctor’s attorney, Debra White, said in an emailed statement after the hearing. “He is fully accepting responsibility by pleading guilty to drug distribution. Dr. Plasencia intends to voluntarily surrender his medical license, acknowledging his failure to protect Mr. Perry, a patient who was especially vulnerable due to addiction.”
“While Dr. Plasencia was not treating Mr. Perry at the time of his death,” his lawyer’s statement said, “he hopes his case serves as a warning to other medical professionals and leads to stricter oversight and clear protocols for the rapidly growing at-home ketamine industry in order to prevent future tragedies like this.”
In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors have agreed to drop three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying records. Prosecutors outlined the charges in court before the plea, and said that he did not sell Perry the dose that killed the “Friends” actor.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia Age
Dr. Salvador Plasencia was born in 1982 in Los Angeles, California. He is 43 years old in 2025.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia Wife
Dr. Salvador Plasencia is married. He and his wife share a son together.
Education
Born and raised in California, Dr. Salvador Plasencia graduated from Arroyo High School in El Monte, California. He received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California Riverside. He received his Doctorate of Medicine from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and his resident training from the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa.
Medical Experience
Dr. Plasencia is a physician lead at his medical practice, Malibu Canyon Urgent Care, an urgent care clinic in Calabasas, California. Dr. Plasencia is trained in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. He has over 15 years of medical experience and is able to treat patients of all ages. Having worked as an Emergency Room physician, he also has experience dealing with urgent medical issues.
He was employed by UCLA Health as an internal medicine clinical instructor from 2017-2020, during which time he provided outpatient care primarily at a clinic in Encino. According to his LinkedIn account, Plasencia started the telehealth company TeliMedi in July 2020.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia Nationality
He is of American nationality.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia Ethnicity
He is of Hispanic heritage.
