The mystery of the death of American actor Matthew Perry has been solved. The Friends star, who was found unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, died from "acute effects" from taking ketamine, the Los Angeles County Forensic Pathology Office said Friday.
The 54-year-old who played Chandler Bing in the sitcom Friends had been battling his addiction to drugs and alcohol for years. He was clearly consuming this fast-acting anesthetic, used in medical or veterinary surgery, and which has found its way into discotheques. If used incorrectly, ketamine can have long-lasting adverse effects.
Floating out of the body
Originally, ketamine hydrochloride is a molecule synthesized in the 1960s by the American chemist Calvin Stevens, to serve as a human and veterinary anesthetic. The first clinical trials are conducted on volunteer prisoners in the United States. To describe its effects, scientists conjure up a feeling of floating out of the body, a conscious mind but in a dream state. They referred to it as a "dissociative anesthetic," a term that would later describe ketamine.
The product, approved in the U.S. as an anesthetic in 1966, was administered to U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War. Its main interest is to allow the patient to maintain his respiratory reflexes. However, in many patients, it causes nightmares or hallucinations in many patients.
In France, the first traces of a misuse of ketamine date back to the late 1990s. "Choke" found its way into raves and nightclubs, and became an illicit hallucinogenic drug in the same way as MDMA, ecstasy or LSD. Its hallucinatory effects mixed with a physical sensation of losing one's body are particularly sought after by users. As part of the Palmade case, police found ketamine in drug traffickers suspected of supplying the comedian with drugs.
Effective against depression
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified ketamine on the list of essential medicines, but subject to a marketing authorization limited to hospitals.
In his memoir, Perry said he underwent ketamine infusion therapy while in rehab in Switzerland, according to the Daily Mail. He explained that the product was used "to relieve pain and help with depression." According to an analysis published in the scientific journal The Lancet in 2022, the drug is effective in fighting depression that is resistant to conventional antidepressants. It does not seem to induce, over a long period of time, cognitive disorders or addiction, the authors of the article noted at the time.
In very high doses, however, "K" or "pony drug", as it is called by users, can cause a total loss of consciousness and a state of paralysis. Some people report near-death experiences (NDEs). In the case of an overdose, or mixing with other products such as alcohol or other substances, it can cause coma or sedation.