Matthew Perry described his ketamine treatments in detail a year before his death

Following the recent arrests in connection with Matthew PerryDeath, We weekly looks back at how the late star spoke about his use of ketamine treatment in his 2022 memoir Friends, lovers and the big, terrible thing.

Almost a year before his death, Perry wrote that he had taken the drug “for pain relief and depression.”

“Ketamine was a very popular street drug in the 1980s. There is now a synthetic form of it,” he wrote. “It has my name on it – they might as well have called it 'Matty.'”

Perry described the drug as a “giant exhale” and revealed that he would “dissociate” during treatment.

Perry died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54 from “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s toxicology report released in December 2023. His death was initially ruled an accident, but on August 15, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California filed charges against five people – Jasveen Sangha, Eric Fleming, Salvador PlasenciaPerry's former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa And Mark Chavez – in connection with Perry’s death.

Although the charges against each individual are different, Fleming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Plasencia and Sangha pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to the same charge. Iwamasa pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death.

Related: Celebrity deaths 2023: These are the stars we have lost

After losing beloved stars like Barbara Walters, Kirstie Alley and Stephen “tWitch” Boss in the final days of 2022, the entertainment industry has suffered more losses in 2023. Hollywood mourned three significant losses in April: Jerry Springer, Harry Belafonte and Dancing With the Stars judge Len Goodman all died within days of each other. […]

In his book, Perry also mentioned that he felt like he was “dying” during the ketamine treatments, but explained why he “kept signing up for this shit.”

“It was something different, and anything different is good,” Perry wrote. “Taking K is like getting hit on the head with a giant shovel of happiness. But the hangover was severe and weighed heavier than the shovel.”

Overall, the Friends Alumnus explained: “Ketamine wasn’t for me.”

Court documents obtained by Us in August 2024 claim that Perry and Iwamasa spent nearly $55,000 on 55 vials of ketamine and numerous injections 29 days before his death.

Perry's autopsy report also listed drowning, coronary heart disease and the effects of buprenorphine – a drug used to treat opioid use – as contributing factors to his death. Perry's death was ultimately ruled an accident.

Perry was found unconscious in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home after authorities were called to the scene for cardiac arrest. Following the initial autopsy report, Perry's cause of death was “deferred” to October 2023, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's report. Further investigation into his death, as well as a toxicology report, have been requested.

Perry became famous for his role as Chandler Bing in Friends from 1994 to 2004. During his time on the famous NBC comedy, the actor struggled with substance abuse, which he wrote about in detail in his memoirs, revealing that he was only “completely sober” during one season of the series. For this reason, the late star often referred to season 9 as “the one where everyone was talking about Chandler.”

Related: Matthew Perry's ups and downs over the years

Matthew Perry has never shied away from talking about his problems after becoming a star through his role as Chandler Bing in Friends. “As [fame] happens, it's like Disneyland for a while. For me it took about eight months to get that feeling of “I did it, I'm excited, there's no problem in the world.” […]

“You can track the evolution of my addiction if you measure my weight from season to season — if I overindulge, it's alcohol; if I'm thin, it's pills,” Perry wrote. “If I have a goatee, it's lots of pills.”

Before his sudden death, Perry said he wanted to be remembered as someone who “wanted to help people” despite his problems.

“The best thing about me is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes to me and asks, 'Do you want to help me?' I can say yes and follow up and do it,” he said during a November 2022 appearance on the podcast “Q with Tom Power.” “When I die, I don't want Friends to be mentioned first. I want it to be mentioned first and I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving that.”