• Woman known as 'Ketamine Queen' pleads guilty to selling fatal dose to Matthew Perry

    Woman known as 'Ketamine Queen' pleads guilty to selling fatal dose to Matthew Perry

    Sep 03, 2025 10:51 PM EDT

    ... horrible and she’s felt horrible since day one.” Sangha admitted to selling drugs directly to 33-year-old Cody McLaury, who died from an overdose in 2019. McLaury had no connection to Perry. Prosecutors agreed to drop three other counts. Geragos, whose other clients have included Michael Jackson, Chris ...

  • Woman agrees to plead guilty to selling fatal dose of ketamine to Matthew Perry

    Woman agrees to plead guilty to selling fatal dose of ketamine to Matthew Perry

    Aug 18, 2025 09:34 PM EDT

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman known as the “Ketamine Queen,” charged with selling Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, agreed to plead guilty Monday. Jasveen Sangha becomes the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of the “Friends” star to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors ...

  • Funding freeze could set research back years, Harvard scientists say

    Funding freeze could set research back years, Harvard scientists say

    Aug 07, 2025 04:36 PM EDT

    ... from the Trump administration was necessary. Bertha Madras, a Harvard psychobiologist who lost funding to create a free, parent-focused training to prevent teen opioid overdose and drug use, said she’s happy to see the culling of what she called “politically motivated social science studies.” White House pressure a ...

  • Studies reveal hidden deaths and health problems connected to Maui and LA wildfires

    Studies reveal hidden deaths and health problems connected to Maui and LA wildfires

    Aug 06, 2025 07:04 PM EDT

    ... calculated rates of suicide and overdose deaths in Maui and Hawaii's four other counties. That research team found a 97% increase in suicides and overdose death rates on Maui during the month of the wildfires. The total number of suicide and overdose deaths was 13 that month — most of ...

  • WATCH: RFK Jr. and health officials announced crackdown on kratom-related products

    WATCH: RFK Jr. and health officials announced crackdown on kratom-related products

    Jul 29, 2025 06:35 PM EDT

    Federal regulators have been scrutinizing kratom for about a decade after reports of addiction, injury and overdose. But users and distributors have long opposed efforts to regulate it, saying kratom could be a safer alternative to opioid painkillers that sparked the ongoing drug addiction epidemic. Last month, the FDA issued ...

  • Doctor pleads guilty to selling Matthew Perry ketamine weeks before actor's death

    Doctor pleads guilty to selling Matthew Perry ketamine weeks before actor's death

    Jul 23, 2025 06:45 PM EDT

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who was a primary target in the sweeping investigation of actor Matthew Perry's overdose death pleaded guilty Wednesday to supplying the “Friends” star with ketamine despite knowing he was a struggling addict. Dr. Salvador Plasencia became the fourth of the five people charged in ...

  • News Wrap: State Department lays off more than 1,300 in latest cuts to federal workforce

    News Wrap: State Department lays off more than 1,300 in latest cuts to federal workforce

    Jul 11, 2025 10:50 PM EDT

    Officials in Baltimore are investigating a suspected mass overdose event that saw more than two dozen people sent to the hospital. The city's fire department first responded to an overdose incident yesterday morning in West Baltimore. Community members then directed emergency crews to more unconscious people in the area ...

  • California's homeless encampment crackdown draws criticism from health experts

    California's homeless encampment crackdown draws criticism from health experts

    Jul 08, 2025 10:35 PM EDT

    Stephanie Sy: Dr. Absalon Galat says overdose is the leading cause of death among the city's homeless population, and that programs like L.A. County's Pathway Home support recovery. Dr. Absalon Galat: Before, our focus was, how can I keep you alive on the street as long as ...

  • Operation Not Forgotten dedicates FBI agents to cold cases as Native families seek answers

    Operation Not Forgotten dedicates FBI agents to cold cases as Native families seek answers

    Jun 30, 2025 10:40 PM EDT

    ... on Shawna, but she was beyond help. In the postmortem examination, tests showed she had methamphetamines, fentanyl and alcohol in her system, indicating an accidental overdose. Geraldine Toya: They told me that they found out that they didn't see that there was any foul play. And they immediately kind ...

  • A judge's ruling will decide whether Purdue Pharma's $7 billion opioid settlement plan could be put to votes

    A judge's ruling will decide whether Purdue Pharma's $7 billion opioid settlement plan could be put to votes

    Jun 20, 2025 03:35 PM EDT

    ... would be dedicated to battling the epidemic. Most of the money would go to state and local governments to address the nation's addiction and overdose crisis, but potentially more than $850 million would go directly to individual victims. That makes it different from the other major settlements. The payments ...