AFPMatthew Perry in 2003
NOS News•yesterday, 18:12•Modified yesterday, 19:48
Five people are being charged in California in connection with the death of Friends-actor Matthew Perry. This was reported by the public prosecutor in the American state. This includes two doctors who allegedly supplied Perry with large amounts of ketamine and the actor’s assistant. Two of the five people involved, including one of the doctors, have been arrested.
Perry died last October at the age of 54. He was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. An autopsy revealed that the actor had a high level of ketamine in his blood, which proved fatal.
Arts
According to Martin Estrada, the chief prosecutor in California, text messages show that the doctors helped Perry get ketamine. In those messages, they wondered how much the actor would be willing to pay for the drug. According to Estrada, they abused Perry’s addiction. Since May, a police investigation has been underway into how Perry got the drugs.
According to authorities, the actor had not used drugs for the past 19 months. However, according to the coroner, he was given ketamine as part of a treatment for depression. The last treatment was said to have been a week and a half before his death, but according to the coroner, that did not explain the high level of ketamine in his blood at the time of his death.
Addictions
Perry struggled with addiction for much of his life. In his 2022 autobiography, the actor said that during his time with Friends including using cocaine, drinking a bottle of vodka in the evening and taking about 55 Vicodin tablets a day, a strong painkiller.
He went to rehab 15 times, tried many more times, and had someone on staff who helped him not use and was always nearby, he revealed in his book.
Perry is best known for his role as Chandler Bing in the television comedy Friendswhich ran from 1994 to 2004 and is one of the most popular sitcoms of all time worldwide. Perry appeared in all ten seasons of the series.
