Matthew Perry’s ketamine source becomes the focus of investigation

The source of Matthew Perry’s ketamine is part of an “open investigation” into the actor’s death in October, Los Angeles police confirmed Tuesday.

Los Angeles police said they are working with the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of a review of the “Friends” star’s case. The star was 54 when he died from the acute effects of ketamine, according to authorities. TMZ first reported that investigators were focusing on the source of the ketamine; the DEA declined further comment Tuesday.

Perry’s unexpected death came after his very open battle with alcohol and opioid addiction and several stints in rehab. In 2022, he released his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, in which he described his Vicodin addiction after a jet ski accident in 1997 and how he nearly died in 2019 after his colon ruptured due to opioid abuse.

A report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office in December said the actor had been clean for 19 months before his death. His assistant, who lived with him, told police he had been out running errands when he returned to Perry’s Pacific Palisades home and found him unconscious in the pool.

A medical examiner said Perry had reportedly used ketamine infusion therapy, which is becoming increasingly popular for treating mental health issues, and last did so 1.5 weeks before his death. The report said Perry used the anesthetic for depression and anxiety.

But the amount of ketamine left in his body was high – about the same as that found during general anesthesia during surgery – and the medical examiner said it was unclear why the drug was still in his body, as it is metabolized within hours.

The coroner ultimately concluded his death was accidental, saying “contributing factors” included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, which “is used to treat opioid addiction.”

On the day of his death, Perry’s assistant said, the actor was playing pickleball and showed no complaints about his health or signs of alcohol or drug use. Although there was no evidence of a crime after his death, the investigation is still ongoing, police said.

It’s not uncommon for police to investigate the cause of a celebrity’s drug-related death. Charges have been filed against the person who supplied the counterfeit oxycodone drugs that led to rapper Mac Miller’s overdose death in 2018 and a drug dealer who supplied actor Michael K. Williams with the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed him in 2021.

The death of Perry, who was best known for his role as the sarcastic Chandler Bing in “Friends,” sparked an immediate wave of shock and sadness among his former co-stars and fans.