Matthew Perry had 'surgical dose' of Ketamine in blood at time of death

New details have emerged about Matthew Perry's cause of death at age 54. According to toxicology reports, the Friends actor had "phenomenally high" levels of ketamine in his system when he was found unconscious in his Los Angeles home hot tub last month.

While the actor claimed sobriety in recent years, addiction medicine expert Dr. Zaid Fadul said someone developing tolerance over time will require increasingly dangerous doses. Perry's ketamine levels measured at a surgical level of 3,540 ng/ml, enough to induce unconsciousness for surgery.

“The levels that was in his blood, it's pretty phenomenally high level," (sic) said Dr. Fadul.

While ketamine was administered to Perry through infusion therapy for depression previously, Dr. Fadul noted the lethal dose could not have come from that treatment due to its short half-life.

The medical examiner determined the method of intake was unknown but trace amounts in Perry's stomach suggested oral ingestion.

Though the coroner ruled ketamine toxicity caused respiratory depression and cardiovascular overstimulation leading to Perry's drowning, Dr. Fadul cautioned against solely blaming one substance. He noted hot tubs alone or other drugs in Perry's system like alcohol could also have contributed.

He noted: "In fact, if you are just in a hot tub for more than 30 minutes, you could have possibilities that's why you see a warning on hot tubs. So I don't know if it's really fair to say Ketamine killed him."