Matthew Perry’s Autopsy Report is Out

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Case Number: 2023-14789

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 54-year-old White/Caucasian male that occurred at his home.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as Matthew Perry.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Acute Effects of Ketamine

Other Conditions: Drowning, Coronary Artery Disease, Buprenorphine Effects

How Injury Occurred: Unknown Route of Drug Intake

No trace of alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, PCP or fentanyl.

The government investigator assigned to this case is Jennifer Hertzog, the deputy medical examiner Dr. Raffi Djabourian.

RIP MATTHEW LANGFORD PERRY (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Saturday at 4:17 p.m.

L.A. County’s Medical Examiner issued the following statement on December 15, 2023.

The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner (DME) determined the cause of death for 54-year-old actor Matthew Langford Perry as the acute effects of ketamine. Contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder). The manner of death is accident. 

On October 28, at approximately 1600 hours, Mr. Perry was found unresponsive in the pool at his residence. After 911 was called, paramedics responded to the scene and death was pronounced.

DME responded, conducted a scene investigation and then transported Mr. Perry’s body to the DME’s Forensic Science Center for examination.

On October 29, the deputy medical examiner completed an autopsy on Mr. Perry. Following the completion and receipt of relevant test results, the cause and manner of death were certified.

Matthew Perry Autopsy Report (PDF)

Weight: 216 pounds

Height: 70 inches

BMI: 31

Autopsy Findings:

  • Focal, moderately severe left anterior descending coronary artery atherosclerosis with proximal to mid portions ranging from 50% to 75% narrowing; no thrombi are noted and there are no acute myocardial infarctions grossly identified
  • Mild cardiomegaly, 465-gram heart with early left ventricular dilation
  • Lungs with marked anthracosis and bullous changes, as well as pulmonary edema and congestion
  • Nephrosclerosis of kidneys
  • Pancreatic fibrosis, chronic
  • Remote abdominal surgery with chronic fibrous adhesions of intestines; mostly fluid contents in stomach
  • Moderately severe aortic atherosclerosis
  • Chronic hepatic congestion, liver; mild splenomegaly

Matthew Perry autopsy PDF

PDF: hollywoodlanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Matthew_Perry_autopsy_report.pdf

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

The thoracic aorta has mild and abdominal aorta has moderately severe atherosclerosis with calcification of plaque. There is no tortuosity or widening of the thoracic segment. There is no dilation of the lower abdominal segment. No aneurysm is present. The major branches of the aorta show no severe atherosclerotic abnormality. Within the pericardial sac there is serous fluid.

The heart weighs 465 grams. It has a normal configuration. The cardiac silhouette is slightly globular and the myocardium is not significantly flabby. The right ventricle is 0.5 cm, the interventricular septum is 1.5 cm in thickness, and the left ventricle is 1.5 cm in thickness. The chamber of the left ventricle shows early dilation and is without organized mural thrombosis. The valves are mostly thin, leafy, and competent, with minimal myxoid degeneration of the mitral. No cardiac valve vegetations are present. There is focal left ventricular endocardial fibrosis. There is no abnormality of the apices of the papillary musculature. There are no defects of the septum.

The great vessels enter and leave in a normal fashion. The ductus arteriosus cannot be probed. The coronary ostia are patent, located at or below the sinotubular junction and are relatively centrally located within their respective sinuses. The coronary artery distribution is right dominant. Serial sectioning of the left coronary artery shows 50% atherosclerosis just after the circumflex take-off, 65% narrowing about one centimeter past that, and 75% narrowing another centimeter down.

Circumflex and right coronary arteries have less than 25% narrowing.

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Scant secretions are found in the upper respiratory and lower bronchial passages. The mucosa is intact. The right lung weighs 700 grams and the left lung weighs 690 grams. The pulmonary parenchyma is dark red-purple and the cut surfaces exude a moderate amount of blood and frothy fluid, with the more apical areas showing mild to moderate bullous changes. The visceral pleurae are dark with heavy anthracosis. The pulmonary vasculature is without thromboembolism. There is no evidence of pulmonary infarction.

HEPATOBILIARY SYSTEM

The liver weighs 2020 grams, and is red-brown to light tan with so-called “nutmeg” appearance. The capsule is intact and the consistency of the parenchyma is soft. The cut surface is smooth. There is no evidence of cirrhosis. There is a normal lobular arrangement. The gallbladder is present. The wall is thin and pliable. It contains a moderate amount of bile and no calculi.

URINARY SYSTEM

The urinary bladder is unremarkable. It contains approximately 15 cc of hazy, yellow urine. The urine preliminary screen at autopsy is negative for ketones, glucose and negative for drugs on the screening cards, except inconclusive for benzodiazepines.

TOXICOLOGY
Samples of heart blood, femoral blood, gastric contents, liver, bile, urine and vitreous were submitted to the laboratory. An EDTA tube was collected for blood typing.

Nasopharyngeal swab was taken for respiratory viral testing.

Photographs were taken prior to and during the course of the autopsy.

CT radiologic examination performed. No fractures or unusual radiodensities were seen.

There were LAPD witnesses present during the autopsy.

DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER’S SUMMARY & OPINION

Mr. 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 accident (drug and drowning related). No signs of foul play are suspected in this death. At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression. Drowning contributes due to the likelihood of submersion into the pool as he lapsed into unconsciousness; coronary artery disease contributes due to exacerbation of ketamine induced myocardial effects on the heart. Buprenorphine effects are listed as contributory, even though not at toxic levels, due to the additive respiratory effects when present with high levels of ketamine.

Autopsy shows no fatal blunt or penetrating trauma.

Coronary atherosclerotic disease is focally moderate, with a single vessel showing 50-75 percent narrowing. The heart is mildly enlarged. Lungs show emphysematous changes, edema and congestion. There is no sign of acute respiratory infections either by microbiology testing or microscopic examination.

Toxicology testing reveals ketamine levels at 3540 ng/ml (3.54 microgram/ml or mg/L) in a peripheral blood source, and 3271 ng/ml (3.27 microgram/ml or mg/L) in a central blood source in Mr. Perry’s system. For context, in monitored surgical-anesthesiologic care, levels for general anesthesia are typically in the 1000-6000 ng/ml ranges. Also detected was buprenorphine, an opioid-like drug used in the treatment of opioid addiction as well as acute and chronic pain. The levels were therapeutic for the drug as well as its metabolite norbuprenorphine, 8.0 and 17 ng/ml, respectively. Non-toxic levels of the benzodiazepine lorazepam were detected. Also, the metabolite of clonazepam, 7-aminoclonazepam, was detected. Clonazepam, however, was not detected. Alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, PCP, fentanyl were all not detected (negative).

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with established human medical and surgical uses. Also, it is used in recreational drug use and other illicit settings, mainly due to its “dissociative” nature, indicating disconnection of mind from body. It also can have short duration hallucinatory and psychedelic effects. This latter effect explains its use in nightclub/party/rave culture.

The exact method of intake in Mr. Perry’s case is unknown. There were trace amounts of ketamine detected in the stomach contents. He was reported to be receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety. Per the Medical Examiner Investigator’s report, his last known treatment was 1 % weeks prior to death, and 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.

 

The decedent is the actor known for playing the role of Chandler Bing on the sitcom Friends.

His last post on Instagram was from an infinity pool, on October 22 (Sunday).

Matthew Perry was definitely injected with synthetic mRNA.

https://www.hollywoodlanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Matthew_Perry_autopsy_report.pdf

In the over 150,000 records that the L.A. County medical examiner has made public since 2001, we’ve seen at least three other cases where the death involved both drowning and ketamine.

John Dillon, 25, died in February 2001.

Seth Rappaport, 36, died in August 2006.

Chloe Angell-Murray, 20, died in March 2022.

https://www.hollywoodlanews.com/tag/ketamine+drowning/