New Delhi: Friends actor Matthew Perry died from an accidental overdose of Ketamine, an investigation has revealed.
Perry, 54, was found dead in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles on 28 October.
In an official statement, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said, “Matthew Perry’s cause of death is determined to be from the acute effects of Ketamine.”
“Contributory factors in his death include drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. The manner of death is an accident,” the statement added.
Perry was on ketamine infusion therapy but that the ketamine found in his body could not have been from his last known therapy session, according to the autopsy report.
In his memoir ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’, Perry frankly wrote about his experience about Ketamine saying that it felt like “being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel.”
“The hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel. Ketamine was not for me,” he wrote.
What is Ketamine?
A hallucinogenic drug, Ketamine distorts the perception of sight and sound. The drug makes the user feel disconnected from reality. This “dissociative anaesthetic hallucinogen” is used as a short-term anaesthesia to make patients feel detached from their pain and environment.
Ketamine induces a state of calm and relaxation, immobility, and relief from pain. The drug causes short-term amnesia – that is, the user has no memory of events while under its influence.
Because of its properties, the drug is often misused, not only for personal recreation but also as a ‘date-rape’ drug. Nicknamed Special K or Cat Valium, Ketamine is notorious because it is often used to sedate unsuspecting women.
In the US, Ketamine is an approved medical product as an injectable, short-acting anaesthetic for use in humans and animals. It is also available as a nasal spray for tackling treatment-resistant depression.
Effects on the body
Ketamine’s main action involves blocking a specific brain receptor called the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), which is involved in the transmission of signals in the brain.
At higher doses, Ketamine interacts with opioid receptors — which are known for their involvement in pain regulation. It also disrupts a neurotransmitter, glutamate, which is important for various brain functions such as learning, memory, emotions, and recognising pain.
Ketamine can mimic the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the “fight or flight” response in the body. This may lead to effects like a rapid heart rate and elevated blood pressure.
Ketamine is good at dissolving in fats, as a result of which it quickly spreads throughout the body at first, with a large distribution area. Its initial impact lasts for about 10 to 15 minutes. Afterwards, the substance slowly moves into the body’s outer tissues away from the centre, like arms and legs — with effects lasting over 3 hours.
An overdose can cause unconsciousness and dangerously slowed breathing. This is what may have caused Perry to slip under the water in his hot tub, and drown.
Ketamine in India
In India, Ketamine is categorised as a Schedule III controlled substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Its use is prohibited in non-medical and non-scientific settings.
Several psychiatric wards offer ketamine therapy to treat depression. However, researchers from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh suggest that more multicentre clinical trials are required to understand the range of side effects that the drug may cause.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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