Credits: IMDb
“I'm not great at the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?”

This is what ‘Friends’ actor Matthew Perry’s character Chandler Bing was known for. He was known for being funny. However, he had his own struggles in his personal life and those struggles were acute depression. He was treating it with ketamine infusion therapy which is legal in the US and the UK.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic used to treat depression, anxiety and pain under supervised and controlled medical settings. However, it does have its side effects, which can lead to distortion of sight, sound and time. It can also produce calming and relaxing effects.
Ketamine increases a person’s heart rate and blood pressure. If overdosed, it can leave users confused and agitated and can cause them to hurt themselves without even realising it. It can also lead to liver damage and bladder problems.
However, when used in moderation and under the supervision of medical doctors, it can treat depression where traditional antidepressants have failed.
Prof Rupert McShane, a University of Oxford psychiatrist who runs an NHS ketamine treatment clinic told BBC that ketamine “probably turns off the area of the brain that is involved in disappointment.”
In simple terms, it cannot, be if the dosage is given in a controlled setting and as prescribed. Ketamine infusion therapy uses drugs in small doses than those used for anaesthesia. It acts faster than traditional anti-depressants, but the effects also wear off way quickly. Which is why it is important to monitor patients’ mental state for relapsing back into depression and discouraging them from overdosing on it.
There are ways of giving people ketamine. One of the ways is through “infusing”, which means to use an IV drip. However, injections, nasal sprays and capsules are also methods used to give people ketamine.
Since the dosage of ketamine used in the infusion treatment is small, it being the reason of actor Perry’s death was ruled out. The medical examiner also noted that Perry’s last ketamine infusion therapy session happened more than a week before his death, which means by the time he had died, it must have worn off.
Though Perry’s last session was more than a week before, his post-mortem showed that his blood contained a high concentration of ketamine. He had died of the “acute effects” of ketamine.
If it was not his session, then how did he get ketamine?
Prosecutors alleged that his assistant gave him at least 27 shots of ketamine in four days before his death, reported BBC.
Perry has been open about his personal struggles and this is what the doctors and dealers used against him. Martin Estrada, the US attorney for California’s Central District told the BBC that people took advantage of his condition. They charged him 165 times more than what vials of ketamine cost.
Names that have come up include Dr Salvador Plasencia, drug dealers “Ketamine Queen” aka Jasveen Sangha and Eric Fleming, and Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa.
Ketamine Queen or Sangha supplied drugs that led to Perry’s death. Her home was a “drug-selling emporium,” said Estrada. More than 80 vials of ketamine, and thousands of pills including methamphetamine, cocaine and Xanax were allegedly found in her house known as the “Sangha Stash House.”
Sangha is known to deal with high-end celebs and was a “major source of supply for ketamine to others as well as Perry,” said Estrada.
Dr Plasencia called Perry a “moron” while charging him $2,000 for vials that cost only $12. He sold Perry 20 vials of ketamine between September and October 2023, costing $55,000.
He was the one who taught Iwamasa, who had no medical knowledge to inject the drug. This is after he knew that “Perry’s ketamine addiction was spiralling out of control,” as per what the investigators told the BBC.
Another dealer Fleming was told by Sangha to “delete all our messages.” While Fleming pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute drugs unlawfully, he also allegedly messaged Sangha: “Please call...Got more info and want to bounce ideas off you. I’m 90% sure everyone is protected. I never dealt with [Perry] only his assistant. So the assistant was the enabler.”
The court documents also revealed that he asked Sangha on whether the ketamine stays in your system or “is it immediately flushed out.”
The people who allegedly exploited Perry used coded language for ketamine and called it “Dr Pepper”, “bots”, or “cans.”
Selling overpriced drugs, taking advantage of Perry’s mental condition and falsifying medical records to make the drugs given to him look legitimate by Dr Plasencia is what took Perry’s life.
Iwamasa is said to have administered more than 20 shots of ketamine and three on the day Perry died. Whereas ketamine is only administered by a physician. Authorities also found that weeks before Perry’s death, Dr Plasencia allegedly bought 10 vials of ketamine and intended to sell to Perry.
He also injected Perry with a large dose, two days later. This caused him to “freeze up” and spiked his blood pressure.
Perry had always been open about his drug addictions, struggles with alcohol and his depression. He said that his openness would help others who are also struggling and wanted to be remembered by his quote which also is on the homepage of the Mattew Perry Foundation that helps others struggling with the disease of addiction: “When I die, I want helping others to be the first thing that’s mentioned.”
Five arrests have been made in the case so far.
Credit: iStock
India's Supreme Court has revamped guidelines for intensive care units (ICUs) across the country, and the top court has also asked all the states and Union Territories to prepare a “realistic and practical” action plan to implement the guidelines necessary as a minimum standard for intensive care units.
As per the new draft guidelines, set to be implemented from mid-May, patients who are stable and no longer need critical support will be shifted out of ICUs to wards or other care units.
The guidelines, prepared by a three-member court-appointed committee and reviewed by leading medical experts, were endorsed by the apex court as “practical, implementable, and necessary as a minimum standard for an ICU,” The Hindustan Times reported.
A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan said copies of the guidelines should be shared with all the states and UTs.
“Moving further, as an immediate measure, let all the additional chief secretaries/secretaries … heading the department of health and medical education in the states and the UTs, convene a meeting of all experts involved in this exercise to prepare an action plan for implementation of the guidelines. Such a plan shall be realistic and practical,” the bench said in its order.
They also call for round-the-clock monitoring by resident doctors working in shifts, under the supervision of specialists with postgraduate qualifications recognized by the National Medical Council.
The SC bench had urged for a meeting of all concerned to discuss and prepare a final common guideline, which shall then be circulated to all states and UTs.
“A final report/blueprint/recommendation shall be prepared, which shall be placed before this court on the next date,” it said, adding that the entire exercise should be completed within three weeks.
“Let the Ministry of Health, Government of India, formally issue the guidelines placed before us today, to the states and UTs concerned by way of an advisory. A copy of it shall also be uploaded on the website of the Ministry of Health, Government of India,” the bench said, while posting the matter for further hearing on May 18.
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Amid the continuously rising temperatures in India’s national capital, the Delhi government has launched several measures, from cool roofing to misting systems at bus stops, to ORS support for schoolchildren, and rest periods for construction workers, to beat the heat.
Delhi Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta, who reviewed the Heat Wave Action Plan 2026 and directed officials to ensure its strict implementation, noted that the action plan this year is more scientific and robust than in previous years.
The action plan comes as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows no respite from heat for Delhi.
The agency has issued a yellow alert for today, with heatwave conditions likely at isolated places and maximum temperatures expected to reach 43-45°C. On Sunday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, 3.1 degrees above the seasonal average.
However, very light rain is likely towards the afternoon. Partly cloudy skies and very light rain are forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, which is expected to bring a slight drop in maximum temperatures.
Schools are likely to administer an ORS solution before children leave school, if required, to reduce the risk of dehydration during their commute.
Workers will also be provided with drinking water, caps, and Gamchas coverings for protection against the sun. First-aid kits and ice packs will be made available at worksites when needed.
High-pressure misting systems will be installed at bus stops, while anti-smog guns will be used to cool densely built-up areas.
Read: Is It Flu or Heat Stress? Delhi Doctors Report Rising Fever, Sore Throat Cases Amid Heatwave
In addition, 39 Quick Response Teams and trained ASHA workers are on standby. Arrangements for cold drinking water and ORS will be made at busy public locations, including bus stops and terminals.
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While psychedelics—psychoactive substances known to alter perception and mood—have long been sidelined, the US President Donald Trump and his administration are bringing them back to mainstream treatment.
In a significant push, Trump last week signed an executive order where he directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite a review of psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine.
The executive order signed on Saturday is designed to fast-track both research on and access to these drugs. It also includes a $50 million investment in state governments to study how psychedelics might help people struggling with mental health illnesses.
Emerging research shows psychedelics can help improve mental health, especially in conditions where traditional treatment approaches have not been useful. However, these drugs also come with several health risks that cannot be overlooked.
According to FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, ibogaine could “soon” be on track to receive FDA approval once the agency reviews data from late-stage clinical trials, CNN reported.
“Once we have them in-house, we’ll be issuing National Priority Vouchers for a review within one to two months instead of the standard one-year time frame. And that’s because this is a national priority,” Makary said.
“These are potentially promising treatments,” he said. “We’ll see how the data reads out when we get the applications, but we don’t want to waste any time, because this is an urgent matter given the mental health crisis,” the Commissioner said.
Makary noted that if ibogaine gets approved, these will be "given in a controlled, supervised setting in a hospital.”
Historical evidence suggests that ibogaine was first used by the Pygmy people in Central Africa as a sacred medium, believed to be a gift from God, which allowed them to reconnect with the divine and the dead.
It was later, during the colonial period, that the communities in the region used the compound for unity and shared experience.
It was in 1962 that Ibogaine was first seen as a potential treatment for substance-related disorders by researchers in the US. While studies back then showed promising results, psychedelics were considered controversial and, broadly, “abandoned” by researchers.
Since 1967, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the US has classified ibogaine as a Schedule I controlled drug. Schedule I substances are those that currently have no accepted medical use and have a high potential for abuse. They are also illegal to use.
However, in recent years, ibogaine has garnered several high-profile supporters, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and podcast host Joe Rogan.
As per preliminary research, ibogaine has the potential to alter certain brain pathways, which can improve some mental health conditions, including PTSD, anxiety, or depression.
The executive order is a “great step,” Dr. Kirsten Cherian, a researcher at Stanford University who led a landmark study on ibogaine, was quoted as saying to CNN. Cherian added that the order may open the door to offering the treatment in US research facilities.
“The first step is to be able to do the research at home,” she said. “And it could open up a lot of research possibilities. It is kind of an exciting time.”
As per the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, Ibogaine’s effects are prolonged, beginning a half hour to three hours after ingestion and can last more than 24 hours.
Individuals who have used ibogaine report experiencing a dream-like state with visual and sensory distortions. After the peak effects of the substance abate, users report going through a period of reflection and report having residual effects lasting up to 72 hours that include heightened awareness, mild stimulation, and disturbed sleep.
The hallucinogen is also known to raise the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, which could cause vomiting. This makes the use of the substance particularly risky for individuals with preexisting heart problems. There has been a total of 33 ibogainerelated deaths publicly reported in scientific literature to date.
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