Matthew Perry: Arrest reported over death of Friends actor

According to reports from US media, authorities have taken at least one person into custody in connection with the passing of Friends actor Matthew Perry.

Perry, who was 54 years old, was discovered unconscious at his residence in Los Angeles last October. Upon further investigation, it was determined that the cause of his death was related to the immediate impact of ketamine, a regulated substance that he was using as part of supervised treatment for his addiction recovery.

LA law enforcement started looking into the case in May to figure out why Perry had a high amount of the substance in his system.

ABC News and TMZ said that several individuals had been taken into custody and were now dealing with charges from the federal government. NBC News also confirmed that at least one person had been arrested.

Authorities mentioned they will host a media briefing with additional information later in the day on Thursday.

Ketamine, a strong medication used to numb pain during medical procedures, is also being used to treat depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. Those who were near Perry at the time of his death shared with the officials conducting the investigation that he was receiving ketamine infusion therapy.

However, his final treatment had occurred over a week prior to his passing. The medical examiner stated that the ketamine found in Perry's body was unlikely to be from the infusion therapy due to the drug's brief duration in the body.

The medical examiner found that the levels of ketamine in his body were equivalent to those administered during general anesthesia.

The actor, who had not received a supervised infusion session in days, was under legal investigation to determine how he obtained the drug.

It was also noted that drowning played a part in his passing, which was determined to be accidental. Additionally, coronary artery disease and the impact of buprenorphine, a medication typically used to address opioid addiction, were identified as contributing factors.

During the peak of his popularity, Perry was struggling with addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and went to rehab centers several times. He shared his battle with substance abuse in his book, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

In 2016, he shared with BBC Radio 2 that he was unable to recall three years of filming while working on Friends due to his struggles with alcohol and drugs.

Following various efforts to get help, he revealed in his autobiography that he has been mostly abstinent since 2001, aside from around 60 or 70 slip-ups.