Investigation into Matthew Perry: Police investigate ketamine death

The death of Matthew Perry is currently being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and other U.S. authorities, more than six months after he was found unconscious and face down in the “hot end” of his pool in October 2023.

The LAPD confirmed the joint investigation in an emailed statement to USA TODAY on Tuesday. A key part of the investigation is the source of the ketamine that led to Perry’s death, according to reports from NBC News and ABC News. Detectives have interviewed people who may have information about the source of the drugs, according to ABC.

“Based on the medical examiner’s findings, the Los Angeles Police Department, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Postal Inspection Service, has continued its investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Perry’s death,” the LAPD statement said.

The DEA declined to comment, citing its policy not to discuss “ongoing investigations.” USA TODAY has reached out to the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service for comment.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office released Perry’s autopsy report in December. His death was ruled an accident, with the cause of death being “the acute effects of ketamine.” Contributing factors included drowning, coronary heart disease and the effects of buprenorphine.

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Cause of death of Matthew Perry announced:“Friends” star died from “the acute effects of ketamine”

Buprenorphine is “an opioid-like medication used to treat opioid addiction and acute and chronic pain,” according to Perry’s 29-page autopsy report, which USA TODAY obtained at the time. There were no signs of “fatal trauma and there is no suspicion of foul play,” the report said.

What we know about Matthew Perry’s death in October 2023

On October 28, 2023, the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed to USA TODAY that firefighters were called to Perry’s Pacific Palisades home at 4:07 p.m. on the day of Perry’s death and found “an unconscious adult male in a freestanding hot tub.”

The last person to see him alive that day was his personal assistant, who was staying with him when Perry returned from playing pickleball, according to his autopsy report, which was conducted a day after the actor’s death.

The deputy had left Perry’s home for several hours to run errands. The deputy discovered his body at 4 p.m. and officers who responded to him pronounced him dead at 4:17 p.m.

According to his autopsy, no pills, drugs or medications were found near the pool. He did not have any alcohol or drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or fentanyl in his system.

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Autopsy results revealed that Perry had “high levels of ketamine”

Ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic” that “has a certain hallucinogenic effect and distorts the perception of images and sounds,” the DEA website states.

In the autopsy, Perry is described as a “54-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema and diabetes; past drug use – reportedly clean for 19 months; heavy tobacco use for years but currently a non-smoker; ketamine infusion therapy, last therapy reportedly one and a half weeks before his death.”

The medical examiner stated that ketamine levels of up to 3,540 nanograms per milliliter were found in his body. “Levels for general anesthesia are usually in the range of 1,000 to 6,000 ng/ml,” the report said.

Perry was said to have “received ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety,” the report said, but “the ketamine in his body at the time of his death could not have come from this infusion therapy because the half-life of ketamine is 3 to 4 hours or less.” The autopsy also revealed that the method of ingestion was unclear.

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