MUMBAI: Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, known internationally for his roles in blockbusters “Life of Pi” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” shocked fans Friday by revealing he has a rare tumor.
In a statement addressing speculation by fans and the media over his health, Khan said he has been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor.
The disease affects the body’s hormonal messaging system and studies suggest it afflicts just 35 in 100,000 people.
“Learning that I have been diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumor as of now has admittedly been difficult, but the love and strength of those around me and that I found within me has brought me to a place of hope,” Khan said on Twitter.
“To those who waited for my words, I hope to be back with more stories to tell,” he said, adding that he would leave India for treatment.
Referring to rumors about his illness, Khan said a neuroendocrine tumor “is not always about the brain and googling is the easiest way to do research.”
The 51-year-old Indian actor, who was in the 2016 film “Inferno” alongside Tom Hanks, is one of Bollywood’s most globally-recognized exports, with a stellar career at home and in Hollywood.
He had been scheduled to start work on a film by Bollywood director Vishal Bharadwaj, who recently announced the production had been postponed due to Khan’s illness.
‘Life of Pi’ star Irrfan Khan reveals struggle with rare illness
‘Life of Pi’ star Irrfan Khan reveals struggle with rare illness
Second doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced to home confinement
- Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October
- Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service
LOS ANGELES: A second California doctor was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement for illegally supplying “Friends” star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor’s fatal drug overdose in a hot tub in 2023.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute the prescription anesthetic and surrendered his medical license in November.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service. As part of his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to another physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who in turn supplied the drug to Perry, though not the dose that ultimately killed the performer. Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful drug distribution, was sentenced earlier this month to 2 1/2 years behind bars.
He and Chavez were the first two of five people convicted in connection with Perry’s ketamine-induced death to be sent off to prison.
The three others scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks — Jasveen Sangha, 42, a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen;” a go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry’s former personal assistant, Iwamasa, 60.
Sangha admitted to supplying the ketamine dose that killed Perry, and Iwamasa acknowledged injecting Perry with it. It was Iwamasa who later found Perry, aged 54, face down and lifeless, in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing him to lose consciousness and drown.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s NBC television series “Friends.”
According to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusions for treatment of depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous providers elsewhere willing to exploit Perry’s drug dependency as a way to make quick money, authorities said. Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.
