The DEA and LAPD have launched a criminal investigation into Matthew Perry’s death.
According to Variety, both the DEA and LAPD have launched an ongoing investigation into Perry’s death, which occurred on Saturday, October 28, 2023. He was 54 years old.
“When authorities arrived at his Los Angeles home at 4 p.m., they found him unconscious in his hot tub,” Variety’s article reads. “Although first responders were called for cardiac arrest, the toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office later revealed the actor died from ‘the acute effects of ketamine.’ Investigators are now trying to decipher where Perry got the ketamine and how so much of it got into his system.”
The article also states, “Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety prior to his overdose. The toxicology report continued: ‘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.’”
Perry’s death was initially ruled as an accident, according to a December 2023 article from Variety, as “drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine” were all said to be contributing factors.
What was Matthew Perry known for?
Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, which ran for 234 episodes over the course of ten seasons. He also appeared in television series such as 1989’s Growing Pains, 1993’s Home Free, 2006’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 2012’s The Good Wife, 2015’s The Odd Couple and more.
As far as movies go, Perry starred in 1997’s Fools Rush In, 1999’s Three to Tango, 2000’s The Whole Nine Yards, 2004’s The Whole Ten Yards, and 2009’s 17 Again, among others. He hadn’t acted since 2017, although he recently appeared on the Friends reunion in 2021.
