After nearly two months of waiting, the true cause of death of his old friend "Chandler" was finally confirmed.
On the 15th local time, the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office announced the cause of Matthew Perry's death, confirming that he died of "acute effects of ketamine". The report said high concentrations of ketamine, a drug that causes cardiovascular hyperstimulation and respiratory depression, were found in his autopsy blood samples.
In addition, drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine, a drug used to treat addiction to opioid analgesics, were also cited as contributing factors to his death.
Prior to Matthew's death, he reportedly received ketamine injections for depression and anxiety, with his last injectable treatment a week and a half before his death.
On October 21, local time, that is, 6 days before his death, Matthew was photographed walking out of a restaurant in Los Angeles, which was also the last time he appeared in the public eye before his death.
But the report said that the ketamine in his body at the time of his death did not come from that treatment, because "the half-life of ketamine is 3-4 hours or less". So it's unclear how Matthew ingested these high concentrations of ketamine.
In addition to being used to treat depression and anxiety, ketamine has been reported to be used in clinical practice as an anesthetic drug. In addition, it is also considered a recreational drug due to its transient hallucinogenic effects.
While smoking was not cited as a cause of Matthew's death, the report mentions the fact that he smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, suffers from COPD/emphysema, and diabetes.
However, no alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, or fentanyl were found in his body. According to this report, Matthew's death was also ruled an accident.
On October 28, local time, 54-year-old Matthew was found dead at his home in Los Angeles by his assistant.
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