Following his tragic passing in October, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner revealed Matthew Perry’s cause of death to be from “acute effects of ketamine.” The autopsy report further stated that the actor was undergoing “ketamine therapy infusion therapy for depression and anxiety.”
Perry wrote about his experience with the drug during treatment in a Swiss Rehab clinic. The late Friends star noted in his book Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing that he checked in shortly after engaging Molly Hurwitz in 2020 and got daily infusions of ketamine at the center.
Ketamine had Perry’s name ‘all over it’
Perry called ketamine a “giant exhale,” which he would take via drip while blindfolded and listening to music. “Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s. There is a synthetic form of it now, and it’s used for two reasons: to ease pain and help with depression,” he wrote. “Has my name written all over it— they might as well have called it ‘Matty.'”
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He admitted to being consumed by thoughts of death, which never stopped him from craving doses regardless. “I would continually sign up for this shit because it was something different, and anything different is good. Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel. Ketamine was not for me,” he continued.
Perry may have continued his infusions
Although he appeared to stop taking ketamine in his memoir, the recent findings suggest that Perry may have continued as the dosage in his system is higher than that from the last treatment he had nearly two weeks before he died. “The ketamine in his system could not be from that infusion therapy since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours or less,” the report explained.
No illicit substances were found in his home, and a statement from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office ruled that his “manner of death is an accident.” Also, “Contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine,” they further clarified.