“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.

What is Ketamine infusion therapy?

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.”

Can Ketamine Infusion Therapy Kill Someone?

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.

So, What Happened To Perry?

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.

Who Are These Names And What Did They Do?

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.”

Dr Pepper, Bots, Cans

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.

When I Die, I Want Helping Others To Be The First Thing That’s Mentioned

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.

Epstein Files photos show someone holding a bottle of medication, which has come up in the latest batch of photos released on December 18 by House Oversight Democrats, as part of the 68 photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. On the bottle is a label with the word "Phenazopyridine". Why was this medicine there? What does it do?

What Is Phenazopyridine And Why We Think It Was Found At Epstein's House

Phenazopyridine is commonly used to reduce symptoms like urinary pain, burning, or feeling the urgency to pee. It is also used to treat bladder infections or urinary tract infection. WebMD says that it could also be used to help relieve symptoms from other causes like surgery or another procedure.

The Epstein files as we know are a body of documents that detail the criminal activities of American financier and convicted child sec offender, previously it had been reported that he allegedly paid doctors to medicate underage abuse victims. He would get doctors to prescribed anti-anxiety or anti-depressants medications, birth control pills, and also got the victims screened for sexually transmitted diseases, as HuffPost reports.

This is why we think he may have used this common UTI medication: Urinary Tract Infections or UTI are very common after sexual activities, especially for women. It is also because intercourse could push bacteria like E.coli from the genital area into the urethra, this could lead to infection. Since the urethra is shorter in women, it makes it easier for bacteria to reach the bladder. Furthermore, Phenazopyridine is also an over-the-counter, non-antibiotic method to prevent or reduce post-coital UTI frequency and could also eliminate the need for antibiotics.

Epstein Used Medicine To Drug His Victims

Previous reports too show how Epstein had used medicines to drug his victims. Virginia Giuffre told the Miami Herald that she was only 16 when she was recruited to give Epstein "massages". She revealed that she was prescribed Xanax, when she lived and traveled with Epstein for several years.

Another accuser Sarah Ransome said that when she told a doctor that she was sexually abused by Epstein, she was prescribed lithium.

What Do These Medicines Do To You?

Alprazolam, commonly sold under the brand name Xanax is used for anxiety and panic disorder. WebMD says that it produces a calming effect on the brain and helps reduce anxiety, while promoting relaxation. Reports show that he got a doctor prescribe these drugs so he would control the young women, and sedate them and induce amnesia of the abuse. Experts have noted that it can be used as a "date rape" or "grooming drug" because it makes users "zombie-like" or "dazed".

Lithium on the other hand, notes the National Health Service or NHS, UK, slows down the thinking and makes the people feel a bit "numb". Other side effects of lithium also include feeling tired or sleepy, along with lightheadedness, drowsiness, confusion, blackout, and difficulty speaking. This could also be used to control young victims.

Note: No reports have confirmed the use of Phenazopyridine found in Epstein estate as of now. This piece will be updated as and when there is any other information.

Super flu virus, or the new strain of H3N2 influenza is spreading and has affected a growing number of Canadians, reported the Global News. It is "increasing rapidly" around the country, warn experts. Health Canada confirmed that all regions of the country is affected by the growing influenza activity.

In the first week of December, Canada saw 6,799 cases of the flu with 91 outbreaks across the country. The number of positive tests also rose by 20.2 per cent as compared to the week before. Hospitalization numbers too have gone up with 3.6 hospitalization per 100,000 population, reported the Global News.

The strain causing a havoc in public health in Canada is the influenza A (H3N2) strain, which includes a subvariant A (H3N2) subclade K, noted the World Health Organization (WHO).

Who are hit the hardest? According to Health Canada's report, children are among those being hit hard, and most infections are detected in people under 19.

What Is The Super flu doing in Canada?

After the death of three children in Ottawa, between age five and nine, the health officials have urged anyone over the age of six months to get vaccinated. This means, the parents must step in now. In November, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, colloquially known as CHEO, also witnessed eight times more children tested positive for influenza as compared to the data of the same month from previous year. Hospitalized too doubled with children affected by flu.

Also Read: Is 2025 The Year Of Flu?

CHEO in a statement said, "The flu is more than a bad cold."

“Children under five are at a higher risk of severe illness from influenza because they have smaller airways, and their immune systems are still developing. Even healthy kids can become seriously ill, and flu spreads quickly in schools and child-care settings.”

Hospitals in Alberta too are seeing a flood of flu patients, this has jumped up to 70 per cent in a week. Dr Fahad Razak, internal medicine physician and professor at the University of Toronto told the Global News that 1 in 5 of all tests are being done are positive. "So that suggests we are right in the midst of that surge. The numbers could go higher."

Thanks to the holiday season and with increased travel, this will impact the surge in numbers, Dr Isaac Bogoch, Infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital told the outlet, "It’s probably going to end up being a more severe and a more significant flu season compared to the average flu season."

Why Is This New Strain Hitting Hard?

Doctors explain that subclade K enhances the ability of the virus to slip through our immune protection. However, it does not mean that vaccination offers no protection against the flu. In fact, experts and doctors have been emphasizing the need to get yourself vaccinated to help you protect from the worst effects of the virus.

“If you look at deaths and severe illness with flu, the vast majority both in adults and in children are unvaccinated,” Razak said.

“Yes, you may get sick, even if you are vaccinated, it’s that the severity, the chance that you’re going to end up in hospital and worst-case scenario in the ICU or die does seem to be significantly protected against by being vaccinated.”

Health Canada too noted that vaccination can prevent anyone infected with influenza from developing any further complications.

Are Other Countries Impacted?

Apart from Canada, the UK and the US are also impacted by the superflu or the subclade K. In the UK the National Health Service (NHS) declared that the country is currently facing "worst case scenario" for December as flu hospitalization has surged by more than half in just one week. NHS in a statement last week said, on an average 2,660 patients were being hospitalized per day with flu last week. This is the higher ever for this time of the year with the surge being up by 55 per cent compared with the week before.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that infections are growing in 43 states.

Depo Provera: The Food and Drug Administration approved a label change on Friday for Pfizer’s birth control injection, Depo-Provera, alerting patients to the risk of meningioma, a tumor that develops in the lining of the brain.

Pfizer is currently facing a lawsuit from over 1,000 women who allege that the company knew about the risk but failed to warn users.

How Depo-Provera Works

Depo-Provera is administered as a progestin injection every three months. The lawsuit highlights studies dating back to 1983 linking progesterone with meningioma, claiming that Pfizer had an “unassignable duty to investigate” and should have examined the potential risks of Depo-Provera much earlier. (Progestin is a synthetic form of progesterone.)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly one in four sexually active women in the U.S. has used Depo-Provera, with Black women using it at nearly twice the national rate.

Depo Provera: Understanding Meningiomas

Meningiomas are generally non-cancerous, meaning they do not spread to other areas of the body. However, depending on their size and location, they can still be dangerous. In the U.S., about 39,000 meningiomas are diagnosed annually, though the overall risk remains small, as per CDC.

Depo Provera: Pfizer’s Response and FDA Review

Earlier this year, Pfizer requested a judge dismiss the lawsuit, stating that it became aware of the meningioma risks linked to Depo-Provera in 2023. In February 2024, the company applied to the FDA to add a warning to the injection’s label, also requesting warnings for two lower-dose pills containing medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), the active ingredient in the shot, as per NBC News.

The FDA denied the request for the pills, explaining that “the findings of the available observational studies alone do not support the addition of a warning on Meningioma risk to medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA)-containing products.”

Pfizer then amended and resubmitted the application in June 2025. In response, the FDA approved a label change this month for two injection versions — Depo-Provera CI and Depo-Subq Provera 104.

“We acknowledge receipt of your amendment dated June 12, 2025,” the FDA letter to Pfizer said. The approval “provides for the addition of information related to Meningioma risk” on the product label.

Depo Provera: Pfizer’s Statement

A Pfizer spokesperson told NBC News that “the label update reflects a recent decision by the FDA to approve the warning, which the agency had earlier denied.”

“Pfizer stands behind the safety and efficacy of Depo-Provera, which has been used by millions of women worldwide and remains an important treatment option for women seeking to manage their reproductive health,” the statement added.

Lawyers representing the women suing Pfizer said: “For years, Pfizer misled doctors, patients, and the FDA about Depo-Provera’s link to meningiomas, resulting in needless suffering for thousands of women who developed these serious brain tumors. … We applaud the FDA in finally requiring this label change to better inform and protect women.” The FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Elsewhere, warnings about meningioma have already been added to Depo-Provera’s label.

In 2024, the European Medicines Agency listed meningioma as a “possible side effect” for drugs with high doses of MPA. That same year, Canada updated the drug’s label to include meningioma under “warnings and precautions,” noting that meningiomas have been reported following long-term use of progestins, including MPA.

As per NBC News, in January, South Africa’s regulatory agency recommended updating the MPA drug label to include meningioma risk as well. The judge has not yet issued a ruling in the ongoing lawsuit against Pfizer in the United States.