The death of Friends star Matthew Perry was due to the “acute effects” of ketamine ingestion, the Los Angeles County forensic pathology office said Friday.
However, other factors also contributed to his death, which the same source said was an accident: drowning, coronary heart disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction. Ketamine is an anesthetic that is sometimes abused for stimulant or euphoric purposes.
Given the high levels of ketamine found in postmortem blood samples, the most fatal effects would be due to both cardiovascular hyperstimulation and respiratory failure, the forensic office report said.
Matthew Perry, 54, was found unconscious in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home by his assistant on October 28.
A tireless fight against addiction
The man who played Chandler Bing on the sitcom “Friends” battled drug and alcohol addiction for years.
In his memoirs published last year, he claimed to have undergone 65 rehab sessions, spending more than $9 million.
He had also undergone several surgeries related to his drug addiction issues, including a seven-hour intestinal operation in 2018 that even went so far that he once said, “I should be dead.”
His unexpected death sparked an outpouring of tributes, ranging from major Hollywood figures to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Matthew Perry, born in Massachusetts to Canadian and American parents, grew up in Canada before moving to Los Angeles.
During a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor surprised audiences by admitting that he suffered from severe anxiety every night while filming Friends.
The Friends phenomenon
Broadcast between 1994 and 2004, this series is a true cultural phenomenon and has left its mark on a generation of viewers.
It tells the adventures of a group of happy friends – Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Ross and Chandler – in New York, punctuated by romantic relationships, especially between Monica and Chandler, and the endless saga between Rachel and Ross.
Alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry ensured the success of this television series beloved by American youth and beyond.
In the end, the six heroes received around $1 million per episode.
According to Variety, they even negotiated a fee of $2.5 million each to film a reunion show in 2021.
During this episode, Matthew Perry raised the fears of his admirers by visibly stammering his words.
Two days after his death, the five other actors released a joint statement saying they were completely devastated.
In addition to the success of Friends, which brought him worldwide fame, Matthew Perry starred in films such as Fool Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards.