Matthew Perry’s Cause of Death Confirmed: ‘Acute Effects of Ketamine’
Matthew Perry’s cause of death has been confirmed. The Friends star died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” according to an autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner released on Dec. 15.
Drowning and coronary artery disease were contributing factors in Matthew Perry’s death
Perry’s death was primarily caused by ketamine, the autopsy revealed. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects, according to the DEA. The drug can make people feel detached from pain and their environment. It is used recreationally and has also been approved for use in treatment-resistant depression.
Perry had been on ketamine-infusion therapy, the autopsy noted, but the ketamine in his system was not from his most recent therapy session, which took place about a week and a half before he died, The New York Times reported.
Drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (a drug used to treat opioid use disorder) were contributing factors in Perry’s death, which was ruled accidental.
Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in a hot tub in his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Oct. 28. Paramedics were called, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The ‘Friends’ star spoke openly about his history of alcohol and drug abuse
Before his death, Perry spoke openly about his long history of alcohol and drug abuse. In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big, Terrible Thing, he wrote that he had attended 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and been to rehab 15 times.
Perry said his issues with substance abuse began when he was 14 and escalated during his time on Friends. At one point during filming, he was taking 55 Vicodin per day.
In 2019, Perry nearly died after his colon burst because of his opioid use. Doctors gave him a 2% chance of survival, he said. He spent two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital but lived, much to his shock.
“I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that,” he told People in 2022.
“There were five people put on an ECMO machine that night and the other four died and I survived,” he said. “So the big question is why? Why was I the one? There has to be some kind of reason.”
Perry said that he hoped that sharing his story would help others.
“So my hope is that people will relate to it, and know that this disease attacks everybody,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re successful or not successful, the disease doesn’t care.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
Source: DEA
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