"Ketamine is not for me" he wrote, then died as a result - a look at the autopsy report

Matthew Perry - "Ketamine is not for me" he wrote, then died as a result - a look at the autopsy report

Matthew Perry published his memoirs just a year ago. With a good dose of self-criticism and a great deal of reflection, he publicly cleaned up his life. He took his readers on a lifelong journey through the swamp of drugs and alcohol, into hospital beds and through several stays in rehab. Most recently, he claimed that he had already been clean for 19 months. At least on the day of his death, this statement was not true.

On the morning of the day of his death, his good friend Jennifer Aniston was still in contact with him by text message. In an interview with "Variety" magazine, when asked how she would like Perry to be remembered by fans, she said: "As he said himself, that's how he would like to be remembered. He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was in shape. He was happy - that's all I know. I texted with him that morning, funny Matty. He wasn't in pain. He had no problems. He was happy."

Matthew Perry exhibited levels of ketamine like general anesthesia

He may have been happy, but he wasn't sober when he died in his hot tub on Oct. 28. His autopsy report, which is available to the British magazine "Daily Mail", states that Perry had ingested a high dose of the anaesthetic ketamine. The levels were 3,540 ng/ml in the peripheral blood and 3,271 ng/ml in the central blood. A dose that could have been used to induce an entire general anesthetic, the necessary amounts of ketamine are between 1,000 - 6,000 ng/ml, according to the forensic scientist.

The experts suspect that Perry first became unconscious due to the ketamine and then drowned. The effects of the narcotic are listed as the first item on the lengthy autopsy report, followed further down by other causes, also summarized by the coroner's office: "Contributing factors to Mr. Perry's death included drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder)." Although the buphrenorphine levels were not in the toxic range, the doctor does not rule out an interaction with ketamine, which could have had an effect on breathing.

However, ketamine is sometimes prescribed in a much lower dosage even in severe cases of depression. This was the case with Matthew Perry. However, his last dose at the doctor's had already been a week and a half ago, and therefore cannot be related to the levels in his blood at the time of death.

"Given the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood samples, the fatal effects are due to both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression," concluded Los Angeles coroner Raffi Djabourian.

But despite the autopsy, Matthew Perry's death still poses another mystery. In his memoirs "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing", published in 2022, the "Friends" actor wrote about ketamine. He reported on a course of ketamine during a rehab stay in Switzerland: "Ketamine is not for me". He spoke of altered breathing, such as violent exhalations, and that he sometimes had the feeling of dying during this cure. However, he apparently got used to the anaesthetic and possibly even became addicted.

The death is classified as an accident, as it is not clear how Perry deliberately took such a large amount of ketamine, which presumably rendered him unconscious. Perry was found on October 28 in his hot tub, lifeless and with his head under water by his assistant.

Daily Mail" (autopsy report),"Daily Mail" (memoirs),"Variety", CBS

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1. Despite his claim of being clean for 19 months in his memoirs, the autopsy report revealed that Matthew Perry exhibited levels of ketamine similar to those used for general anesthesia when he died.
2. In an interview, Jennifer Aniston, Perry's girlfriend at the time, mentioned that she had sent him a SMS that morning, describing him as happy and healthy, having quit smoking.
3. The high dose of ketamine found in Perry's blood might have led to both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression, according to the Los Angeles coroner Raffi Djabourian's conclusion.
4. In his memoirs, Perry wrote about his experience with ketamine during a rehab stay in Switzerland, stating that it was "not for him" due to altered breathing and feelings of dying.
5. The autopsy report suggested that Perry's death was classified as an accident, as it was unclear how he deliberately ingested a large amount of ketamine.
6. In a sad twist, Perry's memoir titled "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing" contained accounts of his struggles with drug addiction, including ketamine.

Source: www.stern.de