A year before his untimely death, Matthew Perry opened up about the severe effect ketamine had on him.
On October 28, devastating news broke that the Hollywood star - widely recognized for his role as Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom Friends - tragically passed away at age 54.
First responders arrived at Perry's Los Angeles home around 4:00PM, and discovered him unresponsive in a hot tub before he was later declared dead, The Los Angeles Times reported.
In their statement to People, the late actor's family shared their heartbreak, saying: "We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother. Matthew brought so much joy to the world, both as an actor and a friend. You all meant so much to him, and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of love."
At the time of his passing, law enforcement informed the LA Times that no drugs were discovered at the scene, and stated that no foul play was involved in the star's untimely passing.
The 17 Again actor's official cause of death has now been confirmed, as reported by TMZ.
According to the toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Perry died from "the acute effects of ketamine," a substance that is used to treat depression and is also used as a recreational drug.
The report revealed that Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy before he died, reportedly for depression and anxiety. The exact method of intake has not been determined.
The toxicology report goes on to state: "At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression."
In addition to this, contributory factors in Perry's death also included drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine effects - which is an opioid medication used to treat pain and opioid addiction.
The manner of death was ruled an accident.
The Whole Nine Yards star candidly spoke about his use of ketamine in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, and revealed that he'd begun ketamine therapy in a rehab clinic in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s. There is a synthetic form of it now, and it’s used for two reasons: to ease pain and help with depression. Has my name written all over it — they might as well have called it ‘Matty,'" he wrote.
Perry explained the effects of the drug, penning: "Ketamine felt like a giant exhale. They’d bring me into a room, sit me down, put headphones on me so I could listen to music, blindfold me, and put an IV in."
He wrote about how he’d "dissociate" on ketamine and that he "often thought that I was dying during that hour," adding: "Oh, I thought, this is what happens when you die. Yet I would continually sign up for this s**t because it was something different, and anything different is good."
"Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel. Ketamine was not for me," he concluded.
The toxicology report stated that the half-life for ketamine is only "3 to 4 hours or less", this could most likely mean that Perry had taken the drug very recently, and "could not be from that infusion therapy".
