Toxicology report reveals Matthew Perry’s cause of death

After being found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on the last Saturday before Halloween and, shortly after, pronounced dead at the age of 54, there has been much speculation as to the primary cause of Matthew Perry’s death. With many sources saying that no drugs were discovered at the scene, and no foul play was involved, family, friends and fans of the beloved actor have been awaiting the results of a pending toxicology report to put this matter to rest, and those results have just been made public.

According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, contributory factors in Perry’s death included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — which is used to ween addicts off opioids — but ketamine in Perry’s system was the primary cause, which resulted in cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression.

Per Variety and other sources such as TMZ, Perry had taken ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety a week-and-a-half before his death, but the levels of ketamine found in his system on the night in question could not have been from that as ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less.