Multiple arrests, including at least one doctor and several dealers, have been made in connection with Matthew Perry’s death reported by TMZ this Thursday (August 15).
An investigation was opened after the Friends star was found dead in a hot tub on October 28, 2023, after reportedly drowning due to a ketamine overdose.
The detentions come as a result of multiple search warrants executed by several law enforcement agencies in which computers, phones, and other electronic devices were seized to determine those responsible for supplying the actor with the substance.
Perry had allegedly been using ketamine to fight his anxiety and depression under a doctor’s prescription, with his last therapeutic session having taken place a week and a half before his death, meaning that the ketamine in his system was not prescribed by a doctor.
Multiple criminal investigations carried out by agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), US Postal Service, and Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that the dose present in the actor’s body was as high as those used for general anesthesia during complex surgeries, and it was not legally prescribed.
The search warrant included text correspondence between Matthew Perry and his dealers, which detailed the price of the substance, place of origin, and the methods through which the actor would get it.
Actress Brooke Mueller, Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, was also signaled as a suspect in the investigation back in June 2024, but she is not connected with the arrests.
Multiple arrests have been made in connection with Matthew Perry’s ketamine overdose death
Autopsy records reveal that the actor, who was 54 at the time, died due to a combination of drowning, coronary artery disease, ketamine, and the presence of buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction.
According to the DEA, Ketamine is a hallucinogen with dissociative and anesthetic effects, creating a feeling of detachment from pain. It was initially approved for usage on animals in the 60s, with human usage being accepted in the 70s.
As the documents explain, Perry’s death wasn’t the result of just one particular substance. It was a combination of various medications that made him unresponsive, allowing him to drown.
“We use ketamine frequently in the emergency department as an anesthetic because of its safety profile,” said Angelique Campen, an emergency room doctor at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, to CBS.
“There are now uses of ketamine for depression given in clinics. Typically it doesn’t stop your breathing like opioids and other anesthetics would, but it can be very dangerous when used recreationally.”
Ketamine is distributed in powder form. Users can then dissolve the substance for injections or drink it, as well as leave it as is and snort it or smoke it.
Campen believes that the dissociative aspects of the drug are particularly attractive to people who have struggled with addiction in the past, as it provides a similar sensation of a “trip” that other drugs cause.
“He was put in a trance state, so he slipped under the water and drowned,” she said. “The ketamine in and of itself doesn’t stop your breathing, but it can keep you from waking up if you are submerged.”
Perry, who confessed to being addicted to opioids, was particularly vulnerable to the side effects of Ketamine, which experts warn is especially addictive to people with a history of substance abuse
The drug was further approved for treatment-resistant depression in 2019 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but only under strict supervision of a healthcare provider in a certified doctor’s office or clinic.
Various studies concluded that ketamine administration showed meaningful decreases in depression scores for the group given ketamine over the group that received a placebo.
The drug also acts rapidly, which can lead people in pain to seek it in desperation.
“Instead of waiting for an antidepressant medicine to hopefully provide some relief over the course of weeks, people who are suffering under the crushing weight of depression can start to feel the benefits of ketamine within about 40 minutes,” Harvard Publishing explains.
Despite being effective, experts warn against several side effects, many of which are particularly dangerous to people with a history of addiction.
In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry revealed he was battling a severe addiction to alcohol and opioids, specifically Vicodin, which he was given to help treat pain after a 1997 jet skiing accident.
His addiction to Vicodin kept progressing to the point he was taking up to 55 pills a day.
“The main side effects are dissociation, intoxication, sedation, high blood pressure, dizziness, headache, blurred vision, anxiety, nausea, and vomiting,” the paper reads.
“I feel bad for him.” Netizens lamented the actor’s death and reflected on the lifelong battle with addiction that led him to his death
