Matthew Perryâs cause of death revealed: What is ketamine?

Matthew Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Contributing factors in the “Friends” actor’s death included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder). The manner of death was ruled an accident.

Ketamine is an injectable, short-acting anesthetic for use in humans and animals, according to the DEA.

“Ketamine can induce a state of sedation (feeling calm and relaxed), immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia (no memory of events while under the influence of the drug) and is abused for the dissociative sensations and hallucinogenic effects.”

Perry died on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. Authorities arrived at his home in Los Angeles around 4 p.m. and found him in a hot tub, according to the Los Angeles Times. There were no signs of foul play or drugs at the scene. First responders were called for a cardiac arrest, according to TMZ, which first reported the news.

Perry was best known for playing the hilarious, sarcastic Chandler Bing on “Friends” in the ‘90s and early 2000s. He starred in more than 200 episodes across 10 seasons

“I’m so very sad to hear about Matthew Perry. He was lovely to me on ‘Friends’ and every time I saw him in the decades after,” wrote his co-star Paget Brewster on X after the news of his death. “Please read his book. It was his legacy to help. He won’t rest in peace though.. He’s already too busy making everyone laugh up there.”

Perry had been outspoken about his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in his career and published his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the big Terrible Thing,” in 2022.

In a tribute, Variety’s chief correspondent Daniel D’Addario wrote: “His memoir, published just last year, describes his emerging from a childhood in which he abused alcohol into a TV set on which he was, often, in active crisis. ‘Friends’ will always be alternately funny and heartwarming, to the many millions on its wavelength. The struggles that Perry went through in order to perform a character whose jockeying wit overlays clear sadness seem, now, all the more apparent.”