Arrests have been made in the death investigation of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, two law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.
The arrests come nearly a year after the 54-year-old actor was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi of his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023. The toxicology report released by the Los Angeles County medical examiner attributed Perry’s cause of death to the “acute effects of ketamine,” with contributing factors including “drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects.” Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.
At the time, the coroner said Perry’s death was accidental and there were no signs of foul play. But months later, the Los Angeles Police Department announced there was an open criminal investigation into the actor’s death, which was being assisted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Trace amounts of ketamine were found in Perry’s stomach, according to the autopsy report, but the amount discovered in his bloodstream was the same as what would be used in general anesthesia.
At the time of his death, Perry had been undergoing medically supervised ketamine treatments for depression and anxiety. According to the autopsy report, his last prescribed ketamine treatment was a week and a half before his death.
The report also noted that Perry’s cause of death was not connected to his prior sessions of ketamine infusion therapy as the drug’s half-life is just three to four hours. So, the ketamine was taken in another manner, according to the report.
The sudden death of Perry, known for his role as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” sent shockwaves through Hollywood.
Perry had been vocal about his struggles with addiction, addressing them in his best-selling memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” The book was released two years before he died.