‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry Died Due To Ketamine Drug Overdose: Autopsy Report

The concentrations of ketamine in Perry’s body would have overstimulated his heart rate while depressing his breathing, likely leading him to lapse into unconsciousness before his face slipped below the water in the hot tub, the report said.

“The exact method of intake in Mr. Perry’s case is unknown,” the report said, adding that trace amounts of the drug showed up in his stomach. No recent needle marks were found on his body, it said.

Autopsy findings suggested Perry may have been self-medicating with ketamine between medically supervised treatments with the drug.

According to witness interviews cited in the report, Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety. But his last known treatment was a week and a half before his death, so the ketamine found in his system by medical examiners would have been introduced since that last infusion, the report said.

What is ketamine?

Referred to as a “dissociative anesthetic hallucinogen” because it produces a feeling of detachment from pain, anxiety and the environment, ketamine can be injected, mixed with liquids, snorted as a powder, or smoked, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.