The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Tuesday that a criminal investigation into the death of Matthew Perry due to acute effects of ketamine is underway.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Drug Enforcement Agency, with assistance from the LAPD, is investigating the source of the ketamine found in Perry’s system at the time of his death.
Perry, 54, was found unresponsive at his home on October 28, 2023 “face down in the heated area” of the pool.
The “Friends” sitcom star had gone to play pickleball around 11 a.m. the morning of his death and returned home two hours later, witnesses told police.
According to the LAPD, his assistant went grocery shopping shortly afterward — the last time Perry was seen alive — and found the actor dead when he returned. Perry was pronounced dead at 4:17 p.m
The autopsy report from the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office said the death was accidental, listing his cause of death as the “acute effects of ketamine,” with contributing factors including “drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects.”
The autopsy report found traces of ketamine in Perry’s stomach, but the amount found in his bloodstream was the same as would be used in general anesthesia.
The actor, who has struggled with addiction, received medically supervised ketamine treatments for depression and anxiety. At the time of his death, Perry had been clean for 19 months. The autopsy report shows that his last prescribed treatment with ketamine took place a week and a half before his death.
The report concluded that Perry’s cause of death was not due to his previous infusion therapy, as the drug’s half-life is only 3 to 4 hours, but that the ketamine was taken by some other means.
Ketamine has been approved by the FDA as an anesthetic since the 1970s, and research shows that it may help some patients when used as a treatment under medical supervision for depression and anxiety.
Experts say it also entails risks. The drug has a dissociative effect, seemingly separating the mind from the body, and can cause hallucinations. It is known for its use in nightclub and party culture. The DEA warns that a ketamine overdose can cause unconsciousness and dangerously slowed breathing.
