Ketamine, the popular drug that killed ‘Friends’ actor Matthew Perry

Users like its 'out-of-body' experience, but risks are not fully understood

Today's expression: As far as I know
Explore more: Lesson #712
September 23, 2024:

Matthew Perry, the actor who played Chandler on the popular TV series 'Friends,' died of an overdose of ketamine in 2023. Last month, five people were arrested in connection with his death, including a drug dealer to the stars called the 'Ketamine Queen,' government documents show.

Be your best self in English

Move confidently through the English-speaking world

Listen

  • Learning speed
  • Full speed

Learn

TranscriptActivitiesDig deeperTalk about it (10)
No translationsEspañol中文FrançaisPortuguês日本語ItalianoDeutschTürkçePolski

Matthew Perry and the drug that killed him

“Friends” was one of the most popular television shows of all time .

It featured six friends in their 20s and 30s, who all lived in New York City. Over 236 episodes, the characters navigate love, careers, and, later, family life. Friends aired from 1994 to 2004.

The show’s finale was America’s most-watched scripted show in the whole decade , drawing over 52 million viewers . In the years since it ended, Friends has gotten a new life on streaming platforms , as viewers young and old enjoy a window into New York City life in the days before smartphones, dating apps , and sky-high rents .

The character Chandler is an office worker with a sarcastic sense of humor . His character is known for one-liners and is a fan favorite . But behind the scenes , the actor who played Chandler, Matthew Perry, struggled with addiction and drug and alcohol abuse .

He wrote a raw , honest memoir in 2022, in which he confessed that he was often under the influence of drugs and alcohol, even while he was on set. The other cast members staged an intervention . They had to pause production of the show while he went to rehab . But he never got over his addiction during his acting career.

Later in life, in his early 50s, he was sober for 19 months. But then, on October 28, 2023, he was found dead, face down in the hot tub at his Los Angeles mansion. He had overdosed on ketamine .

Ketamine. It’s a legal anesthetic used on people and animals. Veterinarians use it as a tranquilizer on household pets like cats, and on large animals like elephants. For humans, ketamine is used as a general anesthetic in surgery .

But recently, ketamine has been prescribed by doctors for off-label use, to alleviate depression and anxiety . What does that mean, off-label use?

The Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, is America’s drug regulator . The FDA has approved ketamine to be used as anesthesia only. But under the law, doctors can still prescribe ketamine for other things like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress , and chronic pain . The producers of ketamine just can’t advertise it for those things.

Some recent studies have shown that ketamine can be effective in treating depression . And so on the basis of those studies, some doctors have administered ketamine to patients as part of mental health treatment.

But it’s also possible to overdose on ketamine. A ketamine overdose can knock someone unconscious or raise their blood pressure to dangerous levels .

So the most responsible use is to administer ketamine in a structured , supervised , and controlled setting , where doctors can intervene if something goes wrong. That usually means a patient is injected with the drug in a clinic, with doctors present. Matthew Perry was undergoing ketamine treatment from a doctor.

To a patient, ketamine feels like an out-of-body experience . They call it a “dissociative” drug, which means that it makes you feel separate from your body , like you’re watching your life happen to you, instead of living it yourself.

That’s how it feels, but that’s not why it’s useful in treating depression. Ketamine increases the brain’s plasticity —meaning, it makes patients more open to different ways of thinking and it helps them break out of destructive patterns of thought . That’s why it’s used in combination with traditional therapy and treatment.

Still, people like that dissociative, out-of-body feeling. And it’s become a popular party drug, replacing cocaine and LSD in some circles , like among celebrities in Los Angeles.

It’s easier than ever to get ketamine today. During the pandemic, the FDA relaxed a lot of rules about telehealth and sending medication in the mail. New, specialized clinics have taken advantage of these relaxed rules. After just a brief online interview, the clinics prescribe and ship ketamine to patients, who inject it at home. In 2021, the founder of a legal ketamine treatment center said that almost anyone in America can and should qualify for ketamine treatments. He boasted that “ketamine in Los Angeles is like tequila in Miami.”

So it’s not difficult to get your hands on legal, prescribed ketamine. But the clinics limit the amount they send in the mail and some require supervision and counseling . If you’re intent on using ketamine recreationally, you might be able to get some from legal clinics, but not a lot.

So that’s why there’s the illegal market, which supplies ketamine as a recreational drug . But among recreational drugs, ketamine has some cachet . Remember: ketamine is legal in some contexts , and it’s prescribed by doctors in some contexts, and it’s promoted by wellness gurus .

That all means it doesn’t have stigma of cocaine or other completely illegal drugs. And high-end dealers market their ketamine to wealthy clients as safer than those other drugs, as something exclusive and even wellness focused. In the illegal market, ketamine produced for veterinary use is diverted and repackaged and sold to individuals.

And that is how Matthew Perry got the ketamine that killed him. Because in addition to taking ketamine in a controlled setting, he was also buying it in the private market from a dealer called the “Ketamine Queen.” And his suppliers don’t seem to have been concerned about the possibility of an overdose.

In August this year, 2024, five people were arrested and charged with violations related to distributing ketamine, all in relation to Matthew Perry’s death. One of the people arrested was the “Ketamine Queen;” she allegedly supplied it to Perry and a roster of high-profile celebrity clients. Another person charged injected Perry with ketamine on the day he died, according to published documents . An intermediary openly speculated about charging him too much money in a text message. Two of the people charged were Perry’s own doctors.

Matthew Perry had only been taking the drug privately for two months when he died. He was 54.

Jeff’s take

What a sad story. Matthew Perry’s memoir is very good. It’s called, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” He narrates the audiobook himself , if you’re into that.

If you’re a Friends fan, a Matthew Perry fan, you might want to check out that book. But I’m just warning you —it’s raw. There’s some heavy stuff in there. Really tough withdrawal , interventions , a coma—a lot of stuff. But it’s his words and if you liked him in Friends, check it out. The book is translated into several languages.

Great stories make learning English fun

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

Free trial

We speak your language

Learn English words faster with instant, built-in translations of key words into your language

QuizListeningPronunciationVocabularyGrammar

Free Member Content

Join free to unlock this feature

Get more from Plain English with a free membership


Free trial

Test your listening skills

Improve your listening and learn to understand every word with this interactive listening exercise that gives you immediate feedback


Free trial

Upgrade your pronunciation

Improve your accent with voice-recorder exercise that lets you compare your pronunciation to a native speaker’s

Free trial

Build your vocabulary

Learn how to use advanced English vocabulary in this interactive exercise based on the Plain English story you just heard


Free trial

Improve your grammar

Practice choosing the right verb tense and preposition based on real-life situations



Free Member Content

Join free to unlock this feature

Get more from Plain English with a free membership

Practice writing about this story

Get involved in this story by sharing your opinion and discussing the topic with others

Expression: As far as I know