Los Angeles homicide detectives, in collaboration with federal agents, are probing how “Friends” star Matthew Perry acquired the high dose of ketamine that led to his death, police announced on Tuesday. This follows the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s conclusion five months ago that Perry died from an accidental drug overdose and drowning.
The autopsy report, dated December 15, revealed Perry succumbed to the “acute effects of ketamine,” which, combined with other factors, caused him to lose consciousness and slip underwater in the hot tub at his Los Angeles residence. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), along with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the United States Postal Inspection Service, is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding Perry’s death.
“Based on the medical examiner’s findings, the Los Angeles Police Department, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Postal Inspection Service, has continued its investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Perry’s death,” stated the LAPD.
Detectives from the LAPD’s robbery-homicide division are leading the police inquiry. Toxicology tests indicated that Perry had dangerously high levels of ketamine, a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties, in his body. The levels were within the range typically associated with general anesthesia used in surgical care. Other contributing factors to his October 28 death included coronary artery disease, the effects of buprenorphine (an opioid-addiction medicine), and drowning.
Perry, 54, who had publicly struggled with drug and alcohol abuse during and after his tenure on the hit 1990s TV show “Friends,” had been sober for 19 months with no reported relapses before his death, according to interviews cited in the autopsy report. Witnesses mentioned Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety, but his last known treatment was more than a week before his death. Therefore, the ketamine detected in his system by medical examiners must have been introduced after that last treatment.
“The exact method of intake in Mr. Perry’s case is unknown,” the autopsy report stated, noting that trace amounts of ketamine were found in his stomach and no needle marks were found on his body. How Perry obtained the ketamine or who might have supplied it to him remains under investigation.
A DEA spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, directing inquiries to the LAPD.
