With newsparviews.com — The 54-year-old “Friends” actor Matthew Perry passed away on Friday, according to the autopsy results, which were made public. The cause of death was the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine.
Perry also drowned in “the heated end of his pool,” according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner’s autopsy report, although this was only a contributing factor to his death on October 28 and was ruled an accident.
Perry was receiving ketamine infusion therapy, an experimental treatment for anxiety and depression, according to people close to him who spoke with investigators. Nonetheless, the medical examiner stated that Perry’s last medication, which was administered one and a half weeks prior, could not have caused the ketamine levels in his body, which were within the range used for general anesthesia during surgery. Usually, the medication is processed in a couple of hours.
According to the report, other factors included coronary artery disease and buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.
According to Dr. Andrew Stolbach, a medical toxicologist with Johns Hopkins Medicine who examined the autopsy report at The Associated Press’ request, the amount of ketamine found “would be enough to make him lose consciousness and lose his posture and his ability to keep himself above the water.”
“It’s very dangerous and, sadly, sometimes fatal to use sedative drugs in a pool or hot tub when you’re alone,” stated Stolbach, adding that ketamine and buprenorphine are both safe to use.
Perry was discovered unconscious at his Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, home and was subsequently ruled deceased. The autopsy was carried out by investigators the next day.
Although the actor had previously used drugs, the report stated that he had been “reportedly clean for 19 months.”
According to the report, Perry had played pickleball earlier in the day, and when his housekeeper returned from running errands, she discovered him face down in the swimming pool.
Perry, according to the assistant, had not reported any health issues, had not been ill, and had not displayed any signs of recent drug or alcohol use.
“High levels” of ketamine were detected in his postmortem blood tests, which may have increased his heart rate and blood pressure while also impairing his urge to breathe.
According to the autopsy, buprenorphine, which is frequently used to treat opioid addiction and was detected in Perry’s blood at therapeutic levels, may have played a role in his respiratory issue. The autopsy report states that “because of the additive respiratory effects when present with high levels of ketamine,” it would have been dangerous to combine the central nervous system depressant with ketamine.
The report stated that he would have been more vulnerable to the effects of the drugs because of his coronary artery disease.
When Perry played Chandler Bing on NBC’s smash sitcom “Friends,” costarring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer, for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004, he became one of the biggest television stars of his generation.
His co-stars were shocked by his passing, as were many of his friends, family, and admirers, and in the weeks that followed, they gave him heartfelt tributes.
Perry was candid when talking about his battles with addiction, which go back to his days on “Friends.”
In his 2022 memoir, he stated, “I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame.” “I kept my secret from everyone.”
When she spoke with Perry a few days earlier, the woman, whose name is withheld from the autopsy report, told the investigators that he was in good spirits, but that he was becoming “angry and mean” due to testosterone shots. She said that two weeks prior, he had given up smoking.
The woman said that because he was feeling well, his doctor had been giving him ketamine infusions less frequently, even though he had been receiving them for mental health purposes.
Strong anesthetic ketamine has been authorized by US health authorities for use during surgery, but during the last ten years, it has also been investigated as a treatment for a number of psychiatric and difficult-to-treat disorders, such as chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.
Regulators have not approved these alternative uses for pharmaceuticals, but physicians are free to prescribe them if they believe their patients would benefit from them. Hundreds of clinics nationwide provide ketamine infusions and other formulations for a range of medical conditions.