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Matthew Perry died of ‘acute effects of ketamine,’ officials say
The Industry Dec 15, 2023
Matthew Perry at Smarter Justice: Lessons from the American problem-solving court movement. | Photo by Policy Exchange CC BY 2.0 DEED
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The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner announced Friday that the cause of death of actor Matthew Perry was “the acute effects of ketamine.”
“Contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, used to treat opioid use disorder. The manner of death is accident,” the medical examiner’s office says in a statement.
Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in the pool at his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28, and he died at the scene.
According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration website, “Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects.”
“Ketamine distorts the perception of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control. It is referred to as a `dissociative anesthetic hallucinogen’ because it makes patients feel detached from their pain and environment,” the DEA website says.
Perry had openly spoken of his yearslong struggle with addiction. He became addicted to Vicodin during his time on “Friends” — and had done multiple stints in rehab, including during filming of the show.
In 2022, Perry published a memoir detailing his troubles with drugs and alcohol, his issues with weight gain and loss, and other facets of his at- times tumultuous lifestyle, including a harrowing account of an emergency surgery following a gastrointestinal perforation, which nearly took his life.
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