The death of 54-year-old actor Matthew Perry in October of 2023 has sparked an investigation into what is being called the “ketamine wild west”. in celebrity circles.
Perry, who was famous for starring in the ensemble sitcom Friends, one of the most popular shows in all of TV history, was apparently using ketamine to treat his depression and anxiety, and it appears to have slid into recreational use. On his last day alive, records show he asked an associate to “shoot me up with the big one.” He was later found dead in his hot tub in the back yard from a ketamine overdose.
Ketamine is a legitimate anesthetic used during surgery, but it is very dangerous and until recently was rarely prescribed for use outside of a hospital. But some doctors believe it has promise for panic and depression, and they have been prescribing it off-label, though certainly in nowhere near the doses Perry was taking.
Doctors and drug experts say the recent popularity of ketamine has made its sales go through the roof. Today there are “ketamine clinics” and it’s not too hard to get the drug prescribed through online prescribers, they say. Of course, there is also a thriving black market for the drug, which can be hallucinogenic.
Dr. David Mahjoubi, president of the American Board of Ketamine Physicians, said ketamine is “super easy to get” whether you go on the black market or get it through a prescription. He also said he has celebrities he has prescribed the drug for.
Law enforcement investigating Perry’s death say they’ve found a “broad underground criminal network” of ketamine dealers who are saturating the market in and around Los Angeles. Perry’s trajectory may be how misuse and fatal overdoses occur for others. Court documentation shows that Perry started out with a regular prescription at a ketamine clinic that gave him the drug for his lifelong depression. At the clinic, a doctor administered the drug.
But then Perry “graduated” to higher doses and became addicted to the drug, which motivated him to start seeking out “unscrupulous doctors” and plain old street drug dealers.
Perry’s early death was especially said for family, friends, and fans, as the actor had been very candid about his years battling drug addiction, and he had worked hard to put it behind him. In his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry said he had finally kicked his drug habit, and many of his friends thought so, too.
Jasveen Sangha, known as the “ketamine queen,” has been slapped with federal drug charges in connection with the actor’s death.
Prior to Perry’s death from ketamine, the most well-known celebrity death at home from what had always been thought of as a hospital-only anesthetic was superstar Michael Jackson’s death in 2009. Jackson had become addicted to the surgical anesthetic propofol, and he died from an overdose.
