The acute effect of ketamine was what caused the death of Matthew Perryas revealed by the autopsy report of the actor, who died on October 28 at the age of 54. This drug, well known for its recreational use, causes evasive and hallucinogenic sensations and can be prescribed to treat a mental health disorder, as was the case of the ‘Friends’ actor. According to the report, was receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety.

This drug is approved for therapeutic treatments since 1970 in United States. However, anesthesiologist Ramona Andrés indicates to laSexta that “combined with other types of drugs” can cause “respiratory arrest” and that “the patient drowns.”

To know if it can be administered, the expert indicates, it is necessary to review “the medical history” and background of the patient. “Practically everything I use every day is addictive, but the correct dose at the right time, necessary to put a patient to sleep and wake him up, is not addictive,” says the anesthesiologist.

The conclusions of the autopsy

According to the report, the use of this sedative, along with other factors, caused Perry to lose consciousness and drown in the jacuzzi of his house, where he was found dead. Toxicology analyzes found ketamine at high levels in his body, within the range typically associated with general anesthesia used in surgical care.

Thus, the autopsy concludes that the cause of death was the acute effects of this anesthetic and points out as factors that contributed to death: drowningcoronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphinean opioid addiction medication that was also detected in his system.

The concentrations of ketamine found in Perry’s body would have overstimulated his heart rate and depressed his breathing, causing him to fall unconscious and drown in the water, according to the report, cited by the Reuters agency. The document indicates that method of administration unknown of ketamine in Perry’s case and that traces were found in his stomach, without signs of frequent injections being found in his body.

The conclusions of the autopsy indicate that Perry could have been self-medicating between treatments medically supervised. Witnesses cited in the report say Perry was receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety. Her last known treatment had been a week and a half before her death, so the ketamine found in her body would have been administered after that last session, according to the report.

The researchers They found no alcohol or drugs. unlawful acts at the place of his death. Several nicotine vaping products and an inhaler were found in Perry’s living room. In the refrigerator were injectables of the diabetes drug tirzepatide and nicotine lollipops.

The actor had quit smoking two weeks earlier, had been prescribed tamoxifen – a hormone regulator – to lose weight and was receiving testosterone injections, according to the report. Non-toxic levels of some prescription medications were detected in Perry’s body, but no traces of alcohol, cocaine, heroin or other illegal narcotics were found.