Los Angeles police announced Tuesday that they are investigating the circumstances of the death of actor Matthew Perry, star of the series Friends died in October from the “acute effects” of taking ketamine.
Matthew Perry, 54, was found unconscious on October 28 by his assistant in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles.
According to the Los Angeles County Bureau of Forensic Medicine’s report, the man who played “Chandler Bing” in the sitcom Friends had died from the “acute effects” of taking ketamine. His death was determined to be an “accident” but remains under investigation.
In a press release, the Los Angeles police indicated that they were “continuing their investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Perry’s death”, with the help of the Federal Anti-Drug Police (DEA) and the United States Postal Police (USPIS), “based on the forensic report”.
Ketamine, an anesthetic sometimes misused for stimulating or euphoric purposes, was taken by the actor in a supervised manner as part of therapy sessions for depression.
The question of how Matthew Perry – who had not had a supervised injection session several days before his death – obtained the ketamine is now at the heart of the investigation.
Matthew Perry struggled for years with his addiction to painkillers and alcohol.
In his memoirs published last year, he confided having undergone 65 withdrawal sessions, spending more than nine million dollars.
He had also undergone several surgeries related to his drug addiction problems, including a seven-hour colon operation in 2018, going so far as to say one day: “I should be dead”.
His unexpected death sparked a flood of tributes, ranging from major Hollywood figures to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.