Cause of Matthew Perry’s death: Friends star killed by ketamine and drowning, with his death ruled accidental
Friends star Matthew Perry died from ketamine and drowning, his autopsy revealed.
“The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner has determined the cause of death of 54-year-old actor Matthew Langford Perry to be the acute effects of ketamine,” the Los Angeles coroner’s office said Friday.
‘Factors contributing to Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder). The manner of death is accidental.”
Perry, 54, was found dead at his Los Angeles home at 4:17 p.m. on October 28, stunning the showbiz world and breaking the hearts of fans around the world.
Friends star Matthew Perry was killed by ketamine and drowning, with his death ruled an accident. He is pictured on October 22, the last time he was seen in public
In his final post to his Instagram, posted the week he died, the star shared images of him in his pool
He was pronounced dead at the scene and the medical examiner performed the autopsy on October 29.
Ketamine can be prescribed as a medical treatment, but it is unclear whether the drugs in Perry’s system were purchased with a prescription.
Months before his death, he released a tell-all memoir with shocking details about his drug and alcohol addiction.
But he said in October 2022 that he had been sober for 18 months, although that was a year before his death.
Those who knew him claim Perry was clean and sober at the time of his death.
When investigators went to Perry’s home, they found no illegal drugs, but did find prescription medications that were properly labeled and kept in storage bottles.
The Batman logo at the bottom of his pool is seen here in an aerial shot in daylight
Police officers have cordoned off the street leading to Matthew Perry’s home, where he was found dead on October 28
Matthew Perry died from acute effects of ketamine combined with drowning, the Los Angeles coroner’s office has revealed
In the memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry wrote that after his colon exploded in 2018, he was prescribed opiates that he deemed insufficient to deal with his pain.
This led him to turn to street dealers to supply him with potentially fatal fentanyl-laced OxyContin.
“The street pills cost about $75 a pill, so I gave the guy $3,000 a pop, many times a week,” he wrote.
Perry wrote that he spent $9 million to get sober, attended 6,000 AA meetings, went to rehab 15 times and was in detox 65 times.
At his lowest point, he was taking 55 Vicodin a day to fuel his addiction.
He said that in 2021, he overcame his addiction and lived a healthier lifestyle.
He started playing pickle ball — a game similar to tennis and table tennis — and usually played it twice a day, friends said.
Perry was found underwater by his assistant, who lifted his head in an attempt to give him some air, first responders previously revealed.
Captain Erik Scott of the LAFD said, “The Los Angeles City Fire Department responded [and] found an adult man unconscious in a free-standing hot tub.
‘A bystander had lifted the man’s head above the water and brought him to the edge, after which the fire brigade pulled him out of the water on arrival.
“A rapid medical assessment unfortunately determined that the man was deceased before first responders arrived.”
Perry was laid to rest in an intimate ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, attended by his Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer.
Perry wrote in his memoir that he was helped during his drug addiction and recovery by a female personal assistant whom he considered his rock and “best friend.”
Morgan Moses, mentioned in the book only by the pseudonym “Erin,” first met Perry when he was admitted to a rehab facility where she worked.
The pair went on to form a friendship that would last almost a decade, becoming the closest and most loving – though always platonic – relationship of his life.
Moses, 37, is a “down-to-earth companion” who described the troubled Friends star as “the nicest person in the world.”
On her LinkedIn page, Moses says she has been working ‘full-time’ as a ‘sober partner’ since 2018.
Her skills include ‘therapeutic crisis intervention’, ‘mental health first aid’, ‘behavioral intervention’ and ‘nutrition advice’.
Originally a website designer, she graduated from Full Sail University in Florida, while her social media suggests she has also had her own addiction struggles and sobriety journey.