Matthew Perry cause of death: What to know

Medical examiners are determining what led to Friends actor Matthew Perry’s death, more than a month since his body was discovered at his Los Angeles home.

Perry, who played the sardonic Chandler Bing in the beloved sitcom, was found dead at his home in late October. He was 54 years old.

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office has offered few details about the circumstances of the actor’s death, with celebrity news outlets seeking to fill in the blanks.

Newsweek explored those reports and spoke to other medical examiners to find out exactly what is being done—and to learn when full details will be released.

Matthew Perry’s Death

Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his L.A. home on October 28. Local authorities said foul play was not suspected.

Early news reports said that he appeared to have drowned, while other sources said first responders had been called to a cardiac arrest, adding drugs were not found at the scene.

In early November, numerous outlets, including The New York Post, citing a report from gossip site TMZ said initial tests indicated his death was not the result of a fentanyl or methamphetamine overdose, though the investigation is still ongoing.

Perry openly spoke about his addiction to alcohol and prescription medication, writing in his memoir that he spent $9 million trying to get sober. In 2018, Perry was given a 2 percent chance of survival after his colon ruptured due to opioid abuse. He recovered, but was in a coma for two weeks and needed to use a colostomy bag for nine months.

Friends creator Marta Kauffman told TODAY on November 1 thatshe had talked to Perry two weeks before his death. Kauffman said he “was sober” and was in a “really good place” when they spoke.

A private funeral, which was attended by all five of Perry’s Friends co-stars, was held at the Forest Lawn Church of the Hills in Los Angeles on Friday, November 3.

Newsweek has contacted Perry’s media representatives via email for comment.

How Did Matthew Perry Die?

The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner initially published basic information that stated Perry’s name, date of birth, date of death, and other particulars. Those details have since been pulled from the Examiner’s website.

It also stated that a decision about a cause of death had been “deferred,” which usually means an autopsy was completed but more investigation is needed to accurately determine a cause of death.

A spokesperson for the Examiner told Newsweek: “The information will be back on the website once the case is closed. The investigation is still ongoing. Typically, cases where the cause of death is deferred take 3-6 months before a determination is made.”

What Are Medical Examiners Doing?

A forensic pathology examination is conducted when people die suddenly, unexpectedly, or violently. Experts will run tests and analyses to determine the cause and manner of death.

In such cases, including Perry’s death, the examination starts with investigations of the circumstances, including the environment where the body was found.

“For example, was there anyone around?” Professor Nikolas P. Lemos, of Queen Mary University of London’s Cameron Forensic Medical Science Unit, told Newsweek. “Was there any type of equipment that malfunctioned, such as an electrical fault of the hot tub, that may have caused or contributed to the death? And many other issues that the investigators at the scene will hopefully realize…may have played a role in the death.”

Medicolegal death investigators, which in Perry’s case might be the LAPD, would usually take photographs, and try to get “police reports, the medical records, EMS [emergency medical services] run sheets, and might talk to the family and the patient’s physician,” forensic pathologist professor Victor W. Weedn of George Washington University told Newsweek.

“At any rate they write a short summary for the forensic pathologist prior to the autopsy. The forensic pathologist will need the summary and hopefully will review the scene photos before he/she performs their autopsy,” said Weedn, a former president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences who was Maryland’s chief medical examiner from 2021 to 2022.

“The pathology will need this to know what to look for and to corroborate or refute the history as known.”

Autopsy

Lemos, a former chief forensic toxicologist at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in San Francisco, explained that the deceased person will then be autopsied, with a forensic pathologist investigating internal or external findings.

Biological specimens are collected and sent to an accredited lab for toxicology analyses, to determine the presence of substances such as alcohol, prescription medicines and recreational drugs.

“These analyses produce reports often in a few weeks, especially if they are negative, but could take much longer if they give positive results which then need to be separately confirmed and quantified,” Lemos said.

Weedn added that waiting for toxicology reports usually takes the longest amount of time.

“Tox labs vary dramatically in the length of time they take on average and for different kind of analyses,” Weedn said, adding that he is still awaiting results on a case filed in early September.

“Government labs in particular are notorious for long turnaround times. I once worked in an office that typically took a year and more recently in offices that expect results in two weeks. I am working in New Zealand at the moment and one-and-a-half to two months is expected.”

The pathologist might also request histology studies, which may provide information about organs at the time of death or other information about diseases or other conditions. Lemos said while these are “time-consuming” they can run parallel with other tests.

At this point, the pathologist will await reports from sections of the medical examiner’s office and police crime lab.

“The scene investigative team will provide a report that describes the scene, equipment, witness statements and anything else they found noteworthy,” Lemos said.

“The histology, toxicology, microscopy, crime lab or any other sections requested to undertake analyses will also provide the forensic pathologist their reports as they complete their examinations.”

The pathologist may then be in a position to amend the death certificate and issue a new one with the final cause and manner of death or request additional information, including further studies, such as genetic testing, which could lead to further delays.

How Perry’s ‘Friends’ Co-Stars Paid Tribute

The Friends stars, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, issued a joint statement released a joint statement two days after Perry was found unresponsive, expressing their collective grief.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” their statement read. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

“In time we will say more, as and when we are able.

“For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

His co-stars would also issue statements separately.

Aniston wrote in a post on Instagram: “Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain.”

Schwimmer poked fun at Perry’s iconic line delivery in his tribute, writing on social media: “I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around— ‘Could there BE any more clouds?'”

Lisa Kudrow thanked Perry “for all I learned about GRACE and LOVE through knowing you.”

Courteney Cox wrote that she was “grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day.”

And LeBlanc said it was an honor to share the stage with his friend Perry. “I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never. Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love.”

He added: “And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.”

Julia Roberts and Rachel’s Mom Remember Perry

Earlier this week, Julia Roberts, who briefly dated Perry, spoke about the late actor during an Entertainment Tonight interview.

Roberts appeared in Friends in 1996, playing a former classmate of Perry’s Chandler Bing.

Asked for her thoughts about Perry and what it was like to work with him, Roberts said: “They were all so welcoming to me as just a kind of a one-off character and it was a really fun time. The sudden passing of anybody so young is heartbreaking.

“I think that, you know, it just helps all of us just appreciate what we have and to keep going in a positive way as best we can.”

Perry wrote about Roberts in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, recounting how he romanced her as she considered her appearance on the sitcom.

“I sent her three dozen red roses and the card read: ‘The only thing more exciting than the prospect of you doing the show is that I finally have an excuse to send you flowers.'”

Perry broke up with Roberts after only a few months of courting, writing that dating her “had been too much for me.”

“I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me,” he wrote.

“Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable.”

Marlo Thomas who played the mom of Jennifer Aniston‘s Rachel Green recently spoke about “how appreciative he was of the other actors.

“And I remember when I did my very first scene, I walked into the coffee shop and he was sitting on the sofa, and he looked at me in a generous way,” she told E! News in an interview published December 4. “I could tell that he liked what I was doing. He gave that vibe off.”

She added: “He had a very sweet smile on his face, and that said to me, ‘I like what you’re doing.’ And I remember that very much. They were all very nice, but it’s the one thing I remember specifically about him.”