Details About Matthew Perry’s Death Raise Questions About Addiction

IT’S COMPLICATED –

Aug. 20, 2024 – Fans of “Friends” star Matthew Perry may find new revelations about his final days both heartbreaking and puzzling. An addiction specialist at MUSC Health offers some insight about how and why somebody who seemed to be on the road to recovery died of an overdose – and what that specialist wants people to understand about drug and alcohol use disorders.

Court documents contain a sadly memorable line from Perry. “Shoot me up with a big one,” the actor allegedly told his personal assistant the day he died. The documents show that Perry was referring to ketamine.

Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for anxiety and depression, a legal treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

But prosecutors say the actor was also obtaining more ketamine illegally with the help of his assistant and four other people who are facing charges in connection with Perry’s death.

The day Perry died, he had three ketamine injections in about five hours. He was found dead in his hot tub. It was a lonely ending to a life lived both in and out of the spotlight. Perry had gone public with his previous addiction issues, trying to help others dealing with similar problems, only to succumb to the draw of drugs once again.