Medical examiners announced on Friday that Matthew Perry, the “Friends” actor, died from an accidental ketamine overdose, concluding their investigation into the passing of the beloved yet troubled TV star.
Perry, renowned for portraying Chandler Bing on the popular TV sitcom from 1994-2004, passed away at the age of 54. He was discovered unconscious in a swimming pool at his Los Angeles residence in October.
Battling drug addiction, including ketamine, and grappling with significant health challenges for decades, he had reportedly achieved 19 months of sobriety before his passing.
‘Matthew Perry’s cause of death is determined to be from the acute effects of ketamine,’ the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said in a statement.
‘Contributory factors in his death include drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. The manner of death is accident.’
Ketamine is illicitly employed as a recreational drug, valued for its numbing and hallucinogenic properties.
In medical practice, doctors can use the drug as an anesthetic, and ongoing research explores its potential as a mental health treatment.
Perry shared in his memoirs the challenges of his addiction battles, detailing how he leaned on daily ketamine use, crediting the drug with easing his pain and offering relief from depression.
‘Has my name written all over it — they might as well have called it ‘Matty,’ he wrote, of ketamine.
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‘Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel,’ explained Perry.
“Friends,” which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive global following.
In a video, several individuals were injured as a Ukrainian councillor detonated grenades during a meeting. However, even as he delivered on-air jokes and amassed a fortune, Perry was facing personal struggles.
Perry sought help at numerous rehabilitation clinics to confront his struggles with addiction to painkillers and alcohol. In 2018, he endured the consequences of drug usage when he suffered a burst colon, leading to multiple surgeries.
In his memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” published last year, Perry described going through detox dozens of times. He dedicated the book to “all of the sufferers out there,” and wrote in the prologue: “I should be dead.”
‘I have mostly been sober since 2001,’ he wrote, ‘save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps over the years.’
How or when Perry ingested the fatal ketamine dose is not specified in the examiner’s report.
Trace amounts of ketamine were discovered in his stomach, and the examiner noted the existence of prescription medications and loose pills at his home.
Perry, as part of his medical treatment, received ketamine infusions, but the latest known infusion was over a week before his death, indicating the absence of that dose in his system.
Perry’s blood had ketamine levels, as per the examiner’s report, resembling the higher-range concentrations utilized for general anesthesia in surgeries, causing increased heart stimulation and respiratory challenges.
The heightened ketamine levels might have caused Perry to lose consciousness, with drowning then becoming a contributory factor in his death.
Perry’s sudden passing in October drew shocked reactions from Hollywood A-listers, his co-stars, and “Friends” fans worldwide.
‘Oh boy this one has cut deep,’ said Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel on the show about six close-knit friends navigating adult life in New York.
‘He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life,’ wrote Matt LeBlanc, who played Perry’s roommate and best friend on the show.