What is ketamine? This is what you need to know about the drug involved in Matthew Perry’s death
Developed in 1962, ketamine has become a valuable medication. An autopsy of Matthew Perry revealed that it was in his system at the time of his death.
Matthew Perry was found accidentally drowned in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home in late October. On Friday, the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office released an autopsy report revealing the cause behind the death of the ‘Friends’ star which included the “acute effects of ketamine.”
Since being first synthesized in 1962 by Calvin Stevens, the uses for ketamine have expanded far beyond an anesthesia medicine for animals. It is not only used for multiple medical purposes in humans now, which was the case of the late 54-year-old actor, but also as a psychedelic party drug.
What is ketamine? This is what you need to know about the drug involved in Matthew Perry’s death
The US Food and Drug Administration approved ketamine as an anesthetic for humans in 1970. It became a valuable tool on the battlefield for treating wounded soldiers in the Vietnam War. The drug produces an unusual state, sometimes referred to as “dissociative anesthesia”, in which although patients appear awake with normal breathing, they are unable to respond to sensory input. This has made it an excellent analgesia and it has shown itself to be very safe for the purpose.
In the early 2000s though studies discovered that it worked as a rapid antidepressant, relieving severe depression in a matter of hours as opposed to weeks that other medications need to take effect. Ketamine’s effects on the central nervous system still aren’t completely understood, but it is being examined as a potential remedy for other mental conditions such as PTSD.
Perry was using ketamine infusions to fight depression and anxiety. However, his last clinical dose before his death was a week and a half before the tragic event. Since ketamine has a short half-life in the body, traces of the drug disappear within three to four hours, or even less. With the autopsy toxicology report showing the ‘Friends’ actor with the substance in his blood at the time of death, it is believed he was also taking the substance recreationally.
Ketamine’s darkside
The mind-bending properties of the drug, which can give a short-term “out of body” experience and hallucinations, has made ketamine a party drug. While it rarely causes overdoses when taken without any other drugs, misuse of ketamine can result in several health issues, one of which can be unconsciousness.
Its believed that in the case of Perry it “was probably the perfect storm of combinations that may have led to his death,” Angelique Campen, an emergency room doctor of at Providence St Joseph Medical Center, told CBS KCAL News.
“What I foresee happened with him is, what it does is put you in kind of a trance state, so he probably was in the hot tub in a trance state, slipped under the water and drowned,” said Campen. The doctor explained that it wasn’t the ketamine that stopped Perry’s breathing, but after he slipped under the water he couldn’t wake up thus resulted in his drowning.