“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.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on May 3 that three people who died aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean were suspected to have been infected with hantavirus. The rodent-borne virus can cause severe and sometimes fatal respiratory illness.

"To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases," the organization said in a post on social media platform X.

"Of the six affected individuals, three have died, and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa," it added.

In a statement provided to USA TODAY, Netherlands-based expedition cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions said it was addressing a "serious medical situation" on board m/v Hondius. The ship was en route from Argentina to Cape Verde, an island nation off Africa's west coast.

What Is Hantavirus?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause severe illnesses and even death. The hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents through

• exposure to their urine,
• droppings,
• saliva,
• less commonly through a scratch or bite.

The CDC notes that hantaviruses are capable of causing diseases like hantavirus pulmonary syndrome or HPS and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome or HERS.

It can infect and cause serious diseases in people. It has mainly two syndromes. One is found in the Western Hemisphere, including in the US, which can cause HPS.

The most common hantavirus that causes HPS in the US is spread by the deer mouse. HERS is a group that is similar to illnesses caused by hantaviruses and is found mostly in Asia and Europe. There's another type, called the Seoul virus, which is a type of hantavirus that causes HERS and is found worldwide, including in the US.

The WHO did not specify the type of hantavirus or syndrome in the cruise incident, but did mention respiratory risks.

Hantavirus: What Are The Common Symptoms?

According to the CDC, symptoms can appear one to eight weeks after exposure, initially presenting fatigue, fever, and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, it can cause coughing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness as fluid accumulates in the lungs.

The CDC reports that about one-third of individuals who develop respiratory symptoms from the disease may not survive.

Despite extensive research, many questions remain unanswered, including why some cases are mild while others become severe and how antibodies develop. She and other researchers have been tracking patients over extended periods, hoping to uncover potential treatments.

Also read: India Concerned Over Measles Outbreak, Action Underway: Dr N K Arora| Exclusive

Hantavirus: How Can You Reduce Your Risk?

You can reduce your risk by eliminating and minimizing your contact with rodents in your home, workplace, or campsite. The best way is to seal holes and gaps in your home or garage and keep the rodents from entering your home. You can also place traps in and around your home to decrease rodent infestation. Clean up any easy-to-get food that could attract rodents.

Hantavirus: How Does The Diagnosis Work?

CDC notes that the diagnosis in a person who has been infected for less than 72 hours is difficult. If the initial test is done before the virus can be found, then a repeat test is required after 72 hours whenever the symptoms start to show up. Early symptoms, as mentioned above, like fever, headache, muscle aches, nausea, and fatigue, could also be easily confused with influenza, thus a test is extremely important.

The US has witnessed 50 large tuberculosis outbreaks (defined as 10 or more related cases in three years) across 23 states from 2017 through 2023, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed that the numbers, primarily involving U.S.-born persons, have more than doubled in recent years and disproportionately affected socially and economically vulnerable populations.

The outbreaks accounted for 1,092 of the 61,993 cases reported during the period. Two-thirds of large outbreaks occurred within family and social networks. Persons with TB in large outbreaks reported substance use, homelessness, and incarceration more often than did other persons with TB.

The numbers also show a sharp increase from the 24 identified from 2014 to 2016, suggesting that transmission within family and social networks is an ongoing issue, despite the US having one of the lowest TB incidence rates in the world.

“Approximately 80 per cent of large outbreak-related cases occurred among US-born persons. The identification of large outbreaks in approximately one-half of US states, including many with TB incidence below the national average, indicates that maintaining public health capacity for TB outbreak prevention, detection, and response remains critical even in jurisdictions with low TB incidence,” said corresponding author Kala M. Raz, from the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, CDC

What Are The Key Finding?

Notably, the report showed that people involved in the large outbreaks differed from other TB patients. The differences include:

• Nearly 80 per cent of cases were among US-born people, compared to 26 per cent in non-outbreak TB cases
• Substance use was more common (27 per cent vs 12 per cent)
• Around 9 per cent were homeless, compared to 5 per cent in non-outbreak cases
• Over 11 per cent had been incarcerated, vs 3 per cent in non-outbreak TB
• More cases were seen in children under 15 (15 per cent vs 3 per cent)
• Higher share among adults aged 25–44 (40 per cent vs 29 per cent)
• Fewer cases in adults 65+ (8 per cent vs 26 per cent)
• About two-thirds of outbreaks spread within families or social circles
• Around one-quarter occurred in group settings like workplaces, prisons, care homes, universities, and shelters
• Outbreaks were reported in 23 states, including those with lower TB rates
• Large outbreaks made up 1.7 per cent of total TB cases (2017–2023)

How To Control

The CDC report calls for maintaining public health capacity for TB outbreak detection, prevention, and response, even in areas with low TB incidence.

Importantly, they pressed for national genomic surveillance to help prevent and control outbreaks at the local levels.

They also emphasize the need for targeted public health strategies focused on populations at increased risk, particularly those experiencing housing instability, substance use, or incarceration.

What Is Tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs but can spread to other parts of the body. It is transmitted through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Without proper treatment, TB can be fatal.

What Are The Symptoms?

Persistent cough that lasts more than three weeks

Fever

Night sweats

Unexplained weight loss.

In a significant public health move, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, has deployed India’s first portable MRI for bedside brain scans, marking an important milestone for neurological care across the country.

The MRI system, installed at the AIIMS’ Center for Neurological Conditions, will enable rapid brain imaging for critically ill patients in ICUs, emergencies, and neurosurgical care.

The ultra-low-field device can be wheeled directly to patients, eliminating the need for dedicated MRI suites or risky patient transfers.

“Bedside brain imaging transforms how we care for our most critically ill patients. At AIIMS, we manage thousands of stroke and ICU patients annually, where rapid neuroimaging is essential—yet transport to conventional MRI is often unsafe or impossible,” said Dr. Shailesh Gaikwad, Head, Department of Neuroimaging and Interventional Neuroradiology and Chief of Neuroscience Centre, AIIMS New Delhi, in a statement.

Bedside MRI: The Swoop system

The Swoop MRI system, developed by US-based medical technology company Hyperfine, is the world's first FDA-cleared, portable, and ultra-low-field magnetic resonance brain imaging system capable of providing imaging at multiple points of care.

It is expected to improve rapid diagnosis in stroke, trauma, ICU monitoring, pediatrics, and post-operative neurosurgical care.

Across the world, portable bedside MRI systems are being used in hospitals in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and various EU countries.

“The Swoop system eliminates that barrier. Now our clinicians can obtain diagnostic images at the point of care, enabling faster decision-making in neurology, trauma, and critical care," Dr Gaikwad explained.

Also read: India’s Vaccine Initiatives: HPV For Girls, Indigenous Dengue Shot On The Horizon

He added that as AIIMS Delhi "serves as a referral center across India, this deployment signals what's possible when technology and clinical need align to advance neurological care”.

The technology enables faster decision-making in emergencies, in cases where conventional imaging is difficult or unsafe.

The installation in AIIMS Delhi follows regulatory approval in India, Hyperfine said in a statement.

Experts stated that the development could significantly expand access to brain imaging and strengthen research in point-of-care neurodiagnostics nationwide.

How The Swoop System Is Better Than Conventional MRIs?

Conventional high-field MRI systems require dedicated shielded rooms, specialized infrastructure, and patient transport.

For critically ill patients in ICUs, trauma bays, neurosurgery wards, neonatal units, and emergency departments, transport is often not feasible. These limitations can delay diagnosis and treatment and impact outcomes.

On the other hand, the Swoop system

• Requires no dedicated room,
• No specialized power,
• No patient transfer
• It can be wheeled to the patient’s bedside in the ICU, trauma center, stroke unit, or neonatal ward and obtain brain images when and where they are needed most.

“Bringing the Swoop system to AIIMS New Delhi is an important milestone following regulatory approval last December. India has a significant unmet need for accessible brain imaging. Deployment at the country’s leading institution signals the start of bringing point-of-care brain MRI to sites of care and institutions across India, where it can serve clinicians and their patients across neurological conditions,” said Maria Sainz, President and CEO of Hyperfine.

The Swoop system deployment at AIIMS New Delhi also establishes a foundation for clinical research. The AIIMS New Delhi team plans to document outcomes, contribute to peer-reviewed publications, and advance India’s role in the growing global evidence base for point-of-care brain imaging.