Source of Ketamine Investigated in Matthew Perry’s Death – NBC Los Angeles

The source of the ketamine found in “Friends” actor Matthew Perry’s system after his death is under investigation by authorities, Los Angeles police confirmed Tuesday.

The LAPD confirmed to NBCLA on Tuesday that the department’s investigation, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, remains open. Further details about the investigation were initially not known.

The department issued a statement later Tuesday.

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

TMZ initially reported, citing unidentified sources, that police and the DEA have been searching for months for the source of the drug that was supplied to the 54-year-old Perry. According to TMZ, investigators have contacted people in Hollywood who are known to have used drugs and may provide clues to the source of the drug.

The coroner determined in December that Perry’s death was due to “the acute effects of ketamine.” Factors included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use disorder.

Perry’s cause of death was ruled an accident.

Perry was found dead in the pool of his residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on October 28. Paramedics responded and pronounced Perry dead at the scene.

Ketamine, which has been approved as an anesthetic by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for decades, is a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects, according to the DEA. Its medical uses include the induction and maintenance of anesthesia and the treatment of depression.

The coroner’s autopsy report states that Perry received ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety, with the last therapy “reportedly occurring a week and a half before his death.” The autopsy report states that the ketamine found in Perry’s body at the time of death “could not have come from this infusion therapy because the half-life of ketamine is three to four hours or less.”

Matthew Perry’s stepfather Keith Morrison reflects on the tragic death of the “Friends” star.

According to the report, the method of ingestion could not be determined, but traces of the drug were found in Perry’s stomach.

“Given the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood samples, the fatal consequences would be primarily due to hyperstimulation of the cardiovascular system and respiratory depression,” the autopsy report states.

According to the report, Perry had used drugs in the past but had “reportedly been clean for 19 months.” The actor had spoken openly about his addiction issues, which dated back to his time on the hit series “Friends” in the 1990s.

In his 2022 memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” Perry referenced his ketamine therapy.

“Taking K is like getting hit in the head by a giant happy shovel,” he wrote. “But the hangover was tough and outdid the shovel. Ketamine is not for me.”

Perry was playing pickleball that day and an assistant who lives with him found him face down in the pool, the report said. The deputy told investigators that Perry was not ill, had not expressed any health complaints and presented no evidence of recent alcohol or drug use.