Matthew Perry had taken enough ketamine to 'anaesthetise him for operation'
The coroner's investigation into Matthew Perry 's cause of death has revealed he had enough ketamine in his system to knock him unconscious for an operation.
The 54-year-old had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for decades, but had claimed that he was clean in the 18 months leading up to his surprise passing. He was found dead in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, with police discovering no drug paraphernalia at his home.
However, toxicology reports from his autopsy revealed that he had substantial amounts of ketamine - a powerful anaesthetic used in hospitals, and often abused recreationally - in his system. According to the L.A. County Medical Examiner's report, his ketamine levels were 3,540 ng/ml. When used to put people under ahead of surgery, patients are in the 1,000 - 6,000 range.
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Matthew Perry had a substantial amount of ketamine in his system when he died (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)The Medical Examiner's report also revealed that Perry had been prescribed ketamine as part of an infusion therapy treatment for depression and anxiety, and was taking it every other day. However, six months ago, a new doctor tried to wean him off the chemical, which can cause feelings of euphoria and disassociation when taken in small amounts.
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The last time he was prescribed a dose of the drug was reportedly a week and a half before his death. It has been asked if he might have taken the ketamine before getting in the hot tub, become disorientated or passed out and drowned. Large doses of ketamine can cause people to hallucinate or slip into unconsciousness.
The coroner noted that the ketamine in Perry's system "could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine's half-life is three to four hours, or less." The report added that the method of intake could not be determined, but trace amounts of the drug were found in Perry's stomach hinting that he might have taken it in tablet form.
The ME concluded: "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."
The medical examiner added that he probably "lapsed into unconsciousness" and drowned. No blunt force trauma was found and no foul play was suspected.
One year before his death, Matthew opened up about using ketamine in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir. Within his book, Matthew spoke about getting ketamine infusions while in a Swiss rehab clinic during the 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," he said.
The medical report recently revealed Matthew's cause of death (Getty Images Europe)He added that it had his name "written all over it", and described it as a "giant exhale", recalling how he would receive the drug in the clinic while blindfolded and listening to music.
Matthew wrote about how having the infusions would cause him to "disassociate", with him feeling as though he was "dying". Writing in his book, he penned: "'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." He added: "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."
A close pal of the late star has spoken out about how he "lied to everyone" about being clean. Speaking to MailOnline, the unnamed friend said: "He lied to everyone about being clean. He never was. It is very sad. You know, the biggest lie he told was probably to himself."
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