MUMBAI: Matthew Perry, the sitcom star of "Friends," accidentally overdosed on ketamine, according to US medical examiners' findings released on Friday after an investigation into his death. In October, Perry, 54, was discovered unconscious in the swimming pool at his Los Angeles house.
(Also read: Rest in peace! Friends star Matthew Perry is no more, found dead in his LA home)
He had battled drug addiction for decades, including ketamine addiction, and associated health problems, but had apparently been drug-free for more than a year before to his death. Fans of "Friends" all over the world, Hollywood elites, and co-stars of Perry expressed shock at his unexpected death.
In a statement, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office said, “Matthew Perry’s cause of death is determined to be from the acute effects of ketamine. Contributory factors in his death include drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. The manner of death is accident.”
Ketamine's numbing and hallucinatory effects make it an illegal recreational drug. Researchers are looking into the drug's potential use as a mental health treatment in addition to its usage by physicians as an anesthetic. In his memoirs, Perry previously described how, at a point in his battle with addiction, he had become dependent on taking ketamine daily.
How or when Perry ingested the lethal dosage of ketamine is not stated in the examiner's report. However, it also discovered that his home had loose pills and prescription drugs and that there were traces of them in his stomach. Although Perry was receiving ketamine infusions for medical purposes, the last reported infusion Perry received was more than a week before to his passing, therefore the dose would not have been in his system at that time.
According to the examiner's report, Perry's blood ketamine levels were on par with higher-range doses used as general anesthesia during surgeries, which could have overstimulated the heart and caused breathing difficulties. Perry might have fallen unconscious as a result of this, and drowning would then have contributed to his death.
According to the examiner's report, Perry's blood ketamine levels were on par with higher-range doses used as general anesthesia during surgeries, which could have overstimulated the heart and caused breathing difficulties. Perry might have fallen unconscious as a result of this, and drowning would then have contributed to his death.
According to the reports, Perry would have been more vulnerable to the effects of ketamine because of his coronary artery disease and his usage of buprenorphine to manage severe pain. The autopsy results revealed that he had no alcohol in his system. Additionally, there was no evidence of any other narcotics like fentanyl, heroin, or cocaine.
The popular TV sitcom's Chandler Bing, portrayed by Perry from 1994 to 2004, helped him deal with depression and reduced his pain. He remarked of the ketamine, "Has my name written all over it they might as well have called it 'Matty.'" Perry clarified, “Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel.”
"Friends" gained a huge international audience by following the lives of six New Yorkers as they navigate adulthood, relationships, and careers. Perry was having difficulties, though, despite making a lot and pulling off joke after gag on television. He attended several rehabilitation centers to overcome his alcohol and painkiller addiction. Due to drug use, he experienced a burst colon in 2018 and required numerous surgery.
In his autobiography "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," which was published last year, Perry described numerous detoxifications. "All of the sufferers out there," and he wrote in the prologue of the book, and he dedicated it to them. He wrote, “I should be dead.” “I have mostly been sober since 2001. save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps over the years.”
(Also read: OMG! Matthew Perry talks about facing anxiety when he didn't get the laugh from the audience )
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