Matthew Perry Death Investigation Is Officially Closed

The investigation into the death of Matthew Perry is officially closed, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s online database.

The actor died Oct. 28 at his Los Angeles home. In initial reports soon after his death became public, Perry was suspected of drowning and suffering from cardiac arrest.

In December, nearly two months after his death at the age of 54, the L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office revealed that Perry died from "the acute effects of ketamine."

Contributing factors in his death include drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. The toxicology report stated that Perry had taken ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety a week-and-a-half before his death.

At the time of his death, however, the ketamine in his system "could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine's half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less." The ketamine in the Friends star's system caused both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression; no evidence of alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, PCP or fentanyl was found.

In the week ahead of his death, a friend said Perry seemed "fatigued" more than usual, though the actor played pickleball the day he died.

"Lately his greatest joy was the game of #pickleball (he didn't like the name but he LOVED the game). He played every day and sometimes twice. It regulated his days. I spoke to the woman he played with this morning and every morning," wrote Billy Bush, the day after Perry's death.

"She is in shock, adored Matt…she said he had been fatigued today and over the past week. A little more than usual. He played for one hour then went home. I'm grateful to have known him, admired his courage under the grips of a relentless disease."

Bush went on to pay tribute to Perry's battle with addiction in the Instagram post, stating that he is "grateful to have known him."

"His legacy: hero to fellow sufferers. I think he won his battle with addiction but it was a Pyrrhic victory. It took everything out of him. To all of us he’s the guy you wanted to be friends with," Bush wrote.

Perry — in hopes of helping others also struggling — was candid about his substance abuse over the years, including in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

"I say in the book that if I did die, it would shock people, but it wouldn't surprise anybody," he told People in 2022 ahead of his book's release. "And that's a very scary thing to be living with. So my hope is that people will relate to it, and know that this disease attacks everybody. It doesn't matter if you're successful or not successful, the disease doesn't care."