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Coroner’s report states that Matthew Perry died from effects caused by ketamine

The ‘Friends’ star, who had struggled with various addictions, died on October 28 at his Los Angeles residence

Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry attends a premiere in Los Angeles, March 2017.Jordan Strauss (AP)
Luis Pablo Beauregard

Matthew Perry, the star of Friends, died from the effects caused by ketamine. This is the main conclusion offered by the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office about one of the deaths that has caused the most commotion in 2023. The 54-year-old actor died at his residence last October 28. Many had speculated about what caused the death of Perry, who was found unconscious in the hot tub at his home. Authorities believe drugs caused him to drown. “The manner of death is accident,” the coroner’s office said in the document.

Perry had dealt with addictions to alcohol and barbiturates throughout his adult life, he confessed in his memoirs, published last year. On the Saturday of his death, the actor had played pickleball for two hours at a club near his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The Los Angeles police found him around 16.00 after a call made by his assistant.

The autopsy was performed a day later, on Sunday, October 29. The first tests carried out on the body ruled out that the cause of death were methamphetamines or fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opiate that has caused an epidemic in the United States, even claiming the lives of several celebrities such as Prince or Michael K. Williams, one of the main characters of The Wire. The document issued this Friday confirms that Perry did not have other substances such as alcohol, cocaine or heroin in his system.

The coroner claims that Perry had been sober for nine months. However, the actor had undergone ketamine infusion therapy. The star of Friends used it to fight depression and anxiety. Perry’s last therapy before his death was a week and a half before his death, according to the report.

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