The investigation into Matthew Perry's ketamine death is almost complete, ABC News and People have reported. Perry died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. His death was caused by the acute effects of ketamine, along with drowning, with coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects as contributing factors, according to an autopsy report. At the time of his death, the Friends actor was receiving ketamine infusion therapy, but the ketamine that was in his system at the time of his death was not from the therapy, which he had last received more than a week prior to his death.
The current investigation is looking into who supplied Perry with the ketamine that led to his death, reported ABC.
The Los Angeles Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, USPS, and the US Attorney's Office are involved in the investigation. Since USPS is involved, it's possible that something like drugs, or money for the drugs, was sent by mail, reported ABC.
The US Attorney's Office will determine if anyone will be charged, the Los Angeles Police Department sources explained to ABC.
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Although it's currently unclear whether anyone will be charged in connection to his death, a law enforcement source told People that "multiple people" could be charged.
On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, when contacted by People, the US Attorney's Office said it had "no comment," according to the outlet.
Los Angeles Times also reported that the investigation has found "several people" to be connected to the "procurement of the ketamine."
Perry was open about his struggles with addiction, and wrote about it in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. At one point, while working on Friends, Perry was taking 55 Vicodin per day and "didn't know how to stop."
"If the police came over to my house and said, 'If you drink tonight, we're going to take you to jail,' I'd start packing. I couldn't stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older," Perry wrote in his memoir.
Perry's death was ruled to be an accident. Ketamine therapy is sometimes used for treatment-resistant depression. The reason it was determined that the ketamine in his system did not come from the therapy is because "ketamine’s half-life is three to four hours, or less," as per the autopsy report.
Perry had been sober for 19 months prior to his death and did not have other drugs in his system, reported the Los Angeles Times.
