Nearly a month after Matthew Perry’s cause of death was released, the investigation into the Friends star’s sudden passing has officially closed.
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PEOPLE reports that eh Los Angeles Police Department confirmed they are no longer looking into Perry’s death. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner further revealed on its website that the case of Perry’s death is considered “closed.”
Matthew Perry tragically passed away on Oct. 28, 2023, in the hot tub of his Los Angeles-area home. The actor was 53 years old at the time of his death. Initially ruled as a drowning, Perry’s autopsy report revealed that he had suffered from coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. The death was ruled accidental.
The report further pointed out that Matthew Perry had been doing ketamine infusion therapy. However, his most recent treatment was done a week-and-a-half before his death. The coroner declared, “The ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours or less.”
Perry was reportedly clean for 19 months. The actor struggled with addiction and alcoholism in the past.
Matthew Perry Was Vocal About His Struggles With Addiction Over the Years
Less than a year before he died, Matthew Perry released his memoir, Friends Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which revealed details about his struggles with addiction throughout his life.
“I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again,” Perry told PEOPLE while promoting the book. “I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober – and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction – to write it down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people.”
In the book, Matthew Perry recalled almost dying when he was 49 years old. He had suffered from gastrointestinal perforation. His colon also burst from opioid overuse. The actor was in a coma for two weeks and then spent five months in the hospital. He ended up having a colostomy bag for nine months.
“The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,” Perry continued. “I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.”
In regards to when his alcoholism first surfaced, Matthew Perry added that it was when he was first cast on Friends. “I could handle it, kind of. But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble.”
Perry added that season 9 of the long-running series was when he became sober the entire way through. “And guess which season I got nominated for best actor? I was like, ‘That should tell me something.’”