A person has been arrested in Southern California on Thursday in relation to the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry, as reported by NBC News.
Perry, 54, was discovered face down in the heated end of a pool at his home in Pacific Palisades on October 28, 2023. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, his death resulted from the acute effects of ketamine, a drug known for its anesthetic and psychedelic properties.
In May, Los Angeles police confirmed they were collaborating with federal authorities to investigate the source of the ketamine Perry ingested.
Ketamine has long been a popular party drug and has recently gained attention as a potential treatment for depression. Many clinics now offer it as an infusion or injection to address various mental health issues.
Perry had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy to manage depression and anxiety, but his last session was more than a week before his death. The medical examiner clarified that the ketamine found in Perry’s system “could not be from that infusion therapy” due to its short half-life.
The medical examiner found that the levels of ketamine in Perry’s body were comparable to those used for general anesthesia in surgery. The coroner ruled his death an accident, citing drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine—a medication used to treat opioid use disorder—as contributing factors.
Best known for his role as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” Perry had openly discussed his prolonged struggles with opioid addiction and alcoholism in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” However, the medical examiner’s report indicated that Perry had been clean for 19 months at the time of his death.
Law enforcement agencies often investigate and sometimes charge those who supplied drugs in high-profile overdose cases. For instance, after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, his private physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering a fatal dose of drugs. Similarly, federal prosecutors in New York charged four men who supplied actor Michael K. Williams with the fentanyl-laced heroin that caused his death in 2021.
