Beloved actor’s autopsy indicated “acute effects of ketamine” as a cause of death
Matthew Perry’s death is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration following the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s autopsy report findings, which stated he died of “acute effects of ketamine,” the LAPD confirmed to Rolling Stone.
The Friends star died on Oct. 28 at the age of 54. The autopsy report filed in December said the “high levels of ketamine” found in Perry’s blood at the time of his death likely resulted in the beloved actor lapsing “into unconsciousness,” which in turn caused him to drown. Coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects were also cited as contributing conditions.
In January, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that its investigation into Perry’s death had concluded, and the Los Angeles County Medical-Examiner-Coroner’s website listed the case status for Perry’s death as “closed.”
Now, five months after the initial investigation and nearly seven months after Perry’s death, the investigation is ostensibly focusing on how much ketamine was in his system and how it may have been obtained. In addition to the LAPD, with the assistance of the DEA, the United States Postal Inspection Service is also involved in investigating the circumstances surrounding the actor’s death.
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Perry had reportedly been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to treat his depression and anxiety, which was noted in the autopsy report. “His last known treatment was 1 1/2 weeks prior to death, and the ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less,” the medical examiner wrote.
Perry was open about his addiction to alcohol and drugs during his life, and he had served several stints in rehab. Perry candidly addressed his struggles in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which opened with the line: “Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.” Among the unvarnished details he shared about his addiction, he admitted to taking up to 55 Vicodin a day during the filming of the third season of Friends.
