Doctor, drug dealers arrested in Matthew Perry's death

MOSCOW, August 15 A doctor and several drug dealers who allegedly supplied ketamine to American actor Matthew Perry have been detained in connection with his death, TMZ reported.
«We have received information that at least one doctor and several drug dealers who helped with… the delivery of ketamine to Perry have been detained,» the portal writes, citing law enforcement sources.

The article notes that equipment was seized from the detainees in order to establish which of them supplied the substance to the actor. Sources told the portal that in the correspondence obtained by law enforcement, Perry discussed the delivery routes and cost of the ketamine he was buying.

TMZ recalls that Perry was receiving ketamine under the supervision of doctors as part of the treatment for depression and anxiety disorder, but the actor died a week and a half after he attended the course of therapy, which indicated that the substance was illegally acquired. At the same time, the dosage found in his system on the day of his death was comparable to that used for general anesthesia.
According to ABC News, five people have been arrested, two of them doctors. According to the channel, the doctors were the original suppliers of ketamine for the famous actor, but at some point it probably became too expensive, and Perry began to get it from another source. As law enforcement officials told the channel, among the possible dealers was a woman known as the «Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles.»

Perry died on October 28 at the age of 54. According to TMZ sources, the actor's body was found in a hot tub at his home. The portal noted that no traces of drugs were found at the scene, and the death was non-violent.

In December, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office reported that the cause of death of famous American actor Matthew Perry in October 2023 was severe ketamine exposure. The department added that «drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine exposure» were also contributing factors to Perry's death.

Matthew Perry gained wide popularity thanks to his role as Chandler Bing in the famous American TV series Friends. In addition, the actor's film career includes a number of leading roles in famous romantic comedies: Haste Makes Sense, Grifters, Three to Tango, as well as the crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards. Perry has been nominated for prestigious American film awards such as the Golden Globe and Emmy.