About a month and a half after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub on October 28, Matthew Perry’s cause of death has been revealed. According to a 29-page autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner obtained by USA Today, Perry died at 54 from the “acute effects of ketamine.†The method of intake is unknown. Ketamine is an anesthetic that has been used to treat certain mental health conditions, and the Friends actor had reportedly been “on ketamine infusion therapy†for depression and anxiety. However, the autopsy report suggests that the levels in his body couldn’t have been from his last infusion therapy, which was reportedly a week and a half before his death (ketamine’s half-life is “3 to 4 hours, or lessâ€).
According to the autopsy report, other contributing factors to Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of an “opioid-like drug†called buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid addiction and pain. Perry did not have alcohol or drugs such as meth, cocaine, heroin, or fentanyl in his system at his time of death. No pills, drugs, or medications were discovered near the tub. The report also noted that there were no signs of “fatal trauma,†and no foul play was suspected. His death, which has been widely mourned across Hollywood, was ruled an accident.