The investigation into the death of Matthew Perry is coming to a close and multiple individuals have been linked to the late actor’s acquisition of the lethal amount of the dissociative anesthetic ketamine found in his blood, according to a news report published this week.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday that two law enforcement sources confirmed that the investigation’s end is near and that prosecutors will soon decide if charges will be filed against those linked to the Friends star’s procurement of ketamine. The publication reports that it spoke with one law enforcement source not authorized to discuss the probe, who indicated that several people have been linked to Perry’s acquisition of the drug.
The criminal probe underway since May includes investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Service. Detectives are tracing the actor’s procurement of the illegal drug, which has been used recreationally for decades but has recently been discovered as useful in the treatment of depression.
Perry’s body was found by an assistant after he’d drowned in his swimming pool’s hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28 after the lethal dose of ketamine caused him to have cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office. The amount of ketamine found in his blood was about the same as what would be used during general anesthesia the medical examiner said. The office lists the acute effects of the drug as the main cause of his death and added drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use, as contributing factors.
Although friends confirmed Perry was undergoing ketamine therapy, the actor’s most recent session had been a week and a half prior to his death, according to the Medical Examiner’s report. This does not explain the high levels of the drug in his system at the time of his death, as ketamine metabolizes in a few hours. No other drugs were found in Perry’s system, and there was no paraphernalia discovered in his home, officials said.
According to the medical examiner’s report, a psychiatrist and an anesthesiologist who also served as Perry’s primary care physician were the only medical professionals known to be treating Perry in October.
