Matthew Perry’s autopsy report has revealed the cause of the actor’s premature death, and suggested his passing was probably inevitable after years of battling with addiction.
According the to the official document, the Friends star died of an acute overdose of ketamine, despite claiming to have been clean for 19 months. The 54-year-old also had traces of an opioid-like substance in his system after he drowned in the hot tub of his £4million Hollywood mansion on October 28.
The 29-page document was released by Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office on Friday (December 15). Shortly after his death, his close pals including his former co-star Jennifer Aniston insisted he was “doing great” in the weeks leading up to his death.
READ MORE:Friends icon Matthew Perry’s death ruled accident from ‘acute effects of ketamine’
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However, his autopsy suggests a different reality. Perry died of the “acute effects of ketamine” according to the coroner, in addition to the effects of buprenorphine – an opioid-type drug used to treat opioid addiction.
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Senior deputy medical examiner, Dr Raffi Djabourian, wrote: “Matthew Perry’s cause of death is determined to be from the acute effects of ketamine. Contributory factors include drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects (an opioid).
“The manner of death is accident (drug and drowning related). No signs of foul play are suspected. At the high levels of ketamine found in his post-mortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression.
“Drowning contributes due to the likelihood of submersion into the pool as he lapsed into unconsciousness.” The report shows that the 17 Again star, who had been prescribed the drug Mounjaro to help him lose weight, was getting injections of the male hormone testosterone.
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In the document, an unnamed female associate claimed the hormone injections “were causing him to be ‘angry and mean’ for the last couple [of] weeks”. Medical research has revealed that testosterone activates certain areas in the brain which trigger aggression – particularly feelings of anger towards other people or objects.
The report reveals the female associate also told investigators that the actor had changed doctors in the final few weeks of his life. It says: “She last spoke to the decedent [deceased] a few days ago and he seemed fine and was in good spirits.
“The decedent had a prior history of depression but had told her he would ‘never kill himself’. His new doctor of six months stated that since he was in a good mood, his depression was fine and he did not need more treatments.”
(Image: Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The unnamed woman clarified that the actor’s main doctor was an anaesthesiologist, whose name “Dr Ataoin” is partially redacted from the document. Throughout his life, the actor went to rehab 15 times and spent more than £7million fighting his inner demons.
Perry had undergone therapy twice a week for 30 years and attended more than 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings which he detailed in his autobiography last year. He wrote: “It is very odd to live in a world where, if you died, it would shock people but surprise no one.”
According to the report, a detective who attended the scene of Perry’s death said: “During my investigation, no alcohol, illicit drugs or drugs paraphernalia we found.” However, the report added that in the actor’s live-in assistant’s bedroom, the detective found several open, empty and half-filled medication bottles prescribed to him.
(Image: Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
They also discovered several over-the-counter medications, vitamins, digestive aids and dishes filled with multiple various loose pills, tablets, caplets, candy and breath mints. Inside Perry’s living room also contained “multiple nicotine vaping products”, while nicotine lollipops were found in his fridge.
Viagra and hair-loss drugs were also found in his home. It is understood that the actor was undergoing a controversial ketamine infusion therapy to help treat his depression and anxiety. However, his last infusion had been a week-and-a-half before he was found submerged face-down in his indoor hot tub.
The autopsy revealed the level of ketamine that was found in his body: 3,540 ng/mL (nanograms per millilitre) in his peripheral blood (taken from the vein) and 3,271 ng/mL in his central blood (taken from the heart). The high levels of ketamine would be the same amount needed to knock someone out under general anaesthetic.
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It concluded: “The ketamine in his system could not be from infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is three to four hours or less.” Traces of white powder was found in the actor’s stomach that suggested he had taken the dangerous tranquilliser in pill form.
It comes after an associate of Perry’s – who was in recovery with him – told the MoS: “Everyone thought he was sober and he insisted he was, but clearly that wasn’t the case. We were dreading drugs being found in his system.
“He pretended to be doing so well but had clearly relapsed. He tried so hard to beat his disease of addiction, but couldn’t.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
