The toxicology report of the late ‘Friends’ star revealed that he died due to the ‘acute effects of ketamine’.
Matthew Perry, the Friends star, died at 54 on October 24th, 2023. His cause of death is finally released nearly two months after his uneventful passing. The reason was revealed to be the effects of ketamine, according to TMZ. The toxicology report was released by the office of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
The medical examiner mentioned that the ketamine in Matthew Perry’s system led to the ultimate demise of the Studio 60 on Sunset Strip actor. It resulted in both respiratory depression and cardiovascular overstimulation. Other factors that are not counted are drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine effects. Buprenorphine is a drug that helps people slowly wean off opiods. Meanwhile, there was no evidence of alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, PCP, or fentanyl in his body.
Ketamine can be used for pleasure, but it is also used in therapy to cure depression. It was disclosed that Matthew did have a ketamine infusion for therapy a week and a half before his death, but the drug in his system “could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less,” per TMZ.
Matthew Perry battled the problem of drug addiction throughout his life. He narrated in his book, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” how “his substance abuse issues started when he was 14 years old, being just 24 when he landed “Friends,” and how skyrocketing to fame escalated his alcohol and drug abuse.” At a certain point, as per the book, he abused up to 55 pain pills a day. His weight oscillated from 225 pounds to 128.