Matthew Perry Wrote About Receiving Ketamine Treatments to ‘Help With Depression’ Before Death
In the wake of recent arrests related to Matthew Perry’s death, Us Weekly is looking back at how the late star discussed his use of ketamine treatment in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
Nearly only one year before his death, Perry wrote that he used the drug “to ease pain and help with depression.”
“Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s. There is a synthetic form of it now,” he wrote. “Has my name written all over it — they might as well have called it ‘Matty.’”
Perry referred to the drug as a “giant exhale,” revealing that he would “disassociate” while receiving treatment.
Perry died on October 28, 2023, at age 54 from “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s toxicology report, which was released in December 2023. His death was initially ruled an accident, but on August 15, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California charged five individuals — Jasveen Sangha, Erik Fleming, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, Perry’s former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and Dr. Mark Chavez — in connection with Perry’s passing.
While each individual has differing charges, Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Plasencia and Sangha pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to the same charge. Iwamasa pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.
Celebrity Deaths in 2023: Stars We Lost
In his book, Perry also noted that he felt like he was “dying” when going through the ketamine treatments, but explained why he would “continually sign up for this s–t.”
“It was something different, and anything different is good,” Perry wrote. “Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel.”
Overall, the Friends alum declared: “Ketamine was not for me.”
However, court documents obtained by Us in August 2024 allege that Perry and Iwamasa spent nearly $55,000 on 55 vials of ketamine and numerous injections 29 days before he died.
Perry’s autopsy report also listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — a drug used to treat opioid use — as contributing factors in his passing. Perry’s death was ultimately ruled an accident.
Perry was found unresponsive in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home after authorities were called to the scene, responding to a call for a cardiac arrest. Following the initial autopsy report, Perry’s cause of death was “deferred,” per a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner in October 2023. Further investigation into his passing was requested, along with a toxicology report.
Perry rose to fame playing Chandler Bing on Friends from 1994 to 2004. During his tenure on the famed NBC comedy, the actor struggled with substance abuse, something he wrote about in his memoir at length, revealing that he was “completely sober” for only one season of the show. The late star often referred to season 9 as “the one where everyone was talking about Chandler,” because of this.
Matthew Perry’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: From Overcoming Addiction to Opening a Sober House
“You can track the trajectory of my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season — when I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills,” Perry wrote. “When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills.”
Prior to his sudden passing, Perry said that he wanted to be remembered as someone who “wants to help people,” despite his struggles.
“The best thing about me, bar none, is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me?’ I can say yes and follow up and do it,” he said during a November 2022 appearance on the “Q with Tom Power” podcast. “When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned, and I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that.”
