The “Friends” star Matthew Perry died Friday as a consequence of “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office.
Perry, who portrayed Chandler Bing on the successful TV sitcom from 1994 to 2004, died at the age of 54 after battling addiction and other major health concerns for decades.
“Contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder),” the medical examiner said in a statement. “The manner of death is accident. ”
On October 28, Perry was discovered unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. First responders were unable to resuscitate him, and a first post-mortem was inconclusive, pending the results of a toxicology analysis.
Ketamine is commonly used as an anesthetic by doctors and veterinarians, and researchers are investigating it as a treatment for depression. It is illegally taken by underground users for its hallucinatory effects.
The show “Friends,” which followed the lives of six New Yorkers as they navigated maturity, relationships, and careers, garnered a vast global audience.
But, despite delivering on-air comedy after on-air gag — and earning a fortune — Perry was struggling.
He went to several rehabilitation institutions to overcome his addiction to medications and alcohol. In 2018, he had a burst colon as a result of drug use and required many surgeries.
In his memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” published last year, Perry described going through detox dozens of times. He dedicated the book to “all of the sufferers out there,” and wrote in the prologue: “I should be dead.”
“I have mostly been sober since 2001,” he wrote, “save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps over the years.”
But his sudden passing drew shocked reactions from Hollywood A-listers, his costars, and “Friends” fans worldwide.
“Oh boy this one has cut deep,” said Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel on the show about six close-knit friends navigating adult life in New York.
“He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be,” she wrote on Instagram.
“The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life,” wrote Matt LeBlanc, who played Perry’s roommate and best friend on the show.