Response to Matthew Perry’s death-
Recently, Matthew Perry tragically died after suffering a heart attack and drowning. Ketamine (in pill form) was found in his stomach. He also had very high levels of ketamine in his blood stream probably due to the pills he took (much higher than is used for subanesthetic dosing of IV ketamine for depression).
He had a long history of substance abuse, addiction and depression. He was treated with IV ketamine days before his death and somehow obtained oral ketamine that he was taking at home, unsupervised.
The effects of IV ketamine that cause sedation and dissociation are gone in less than 30 minutes after the infusion is stopped.
However, oral ketamine is much longer lasting, unpredictable and dangerous. There is NO evidence for the use of oral ketamine to treat depression and it should only be used to treat severe, end of life pain.
Ketamine that is not carefully dosed can cause life-threatening side effects such as high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. It can also cause unconsciousness at high doses.
For all of these reasons, our clinic is staffed by physician anesthesiologists who are highly trained in the use of ketamine; patients are monitored continuously and are required to have a recent physical exam and medical clearance by their provider.