The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office determined his cause of death was the acute effects of ketamine.
In a celebrity death saga common in Hollywood, five people have been charged in connection with the death. friend Matthew Perry stars in the film.
Two doctors, a live-in personal assistant, an acquaintance and a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen” reportedly conspired to provide Perry with ketamine, leading to her accidental overdose death last year, federal authorities said Thursday.
The 54-year-old actor was found dead, face down in the swimming pool of his Pacific Palisades home in October last year.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office determined his cause of death was acute exposure to the hallucinogenic anesthetic ketamine.
“They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew their actions posed a great danger to Mr. Perry,” attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference.
“But that's what they did anyway. In the end, the defendants were more interested in profiting from Mr. Perry than they were in caring about his well-being.”
Perry's live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. Two others, Eric Fleming and Dr. Mark Chavez, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs illegally.
Dr. Salvador Plascencia, who allegedly supplied Perry with ketamine, is charged with falsifying records.
The suspected dealer, Jasveen Sangha, is charged with nine counts, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Both pleaded not guilty in court Thursday.
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Accidental death in Hollywood
Prince: accidental overdose of synthetic opioids
Perry's case is not the first: there have been several publicly announced deaths due to accidents or medical malpractice.
American singer Prince died of a synthetic opioid overdose at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen, Minnesota in April 2016.
Following an autopsy, toxicology reports revealed extremely high levels of fentanyl in Prince's system, and blood tests revealed synthetic opioids in his stomach, liver and blood, confirming that this was the likely cause of Prince's death.
Prince had been taking a number of medications to treat his chronic pain, including fentanyl, but the drug is thought to be “50 times stronger than heroin” and the levels found in his bloodstream were deadly.
Elvis Presley: The singer had drugs in his system
Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, and his body was discovered by his girlfriend, who described the singer's body as having “his entire body frozen in a sitting position while using the toilet, and then slumped in that fixed position directly in front of the toilet.”
Weeks after Presley's death, toxicology reports revealed that the singer had large amounts of narcotics in his system, including Percodan, Demerol, Dilaudid, Quaaludes and codeine.
Other evidence revealed that Elvis suffered from chronic and severe constipation, glaucoma, and diabetes. Investigators found that Elvis had been abusing drugs for many years, particularly opiates, which can make constipation worse. There was also evidence of abuse of laxatives, sleeping pills, barbiturates, Valium, and other drugs.
Bernie Mac: Cold shot
American comedian and actor Bernie Mac passed away on August 9, Women's Day in South Africa, due to health complications including pneumonia.
After Mac's death, his widow filed a lawsuit against Bernie's dermatologist for failing to recognize obvious symptoms related to breathing difficulties in the weeks before his death.
Mack's wife claims that despite showing signs of respiratory failure, the dermatologists kept him at the clinic for hours rather than transferring him to a hospital.
The dermatologist only encouraged Bernie to go to the hospital after Mack said he'd had a cold shot that morning.
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