Matthew Perry's Primary Care Doctor Details Ketamine Therapy

Matthew Perry's primary care doctor, Dr. Andre Atoian, backs ketamine therapy despite ketamine being the cause of death listed in the actor's autopsy report.

Per the autopsy report, obtained by The Blast, Perry "was seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Yaghamie [redacted] and was prescribed antidepressants." His "current primary care physician was an anesthesiologist Dr. Ataoin [redacted]."

Upon further research, The Blast has discovered that Dr. Andre Atoian is the founder and medical director of Ketamine Specialists and he completed medical school at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and completed his residency training in Anesthesiology at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.

He was trained specifically on the use of ketamine infusions for depression and pain. His practice is currently located in North Hollywood, CA, which is approximately 18 miles from Pacific Palisades, where Matthew Perry lived.

The autopsy report revealed Perry was utilizing ketamine treatment for anxiety and depression, a treatment detailed on the Ketamine Specialists' website as "remarkable in that it has a success rate of up to 70% for patients who have tried conventional treatment and who are still suffering from debilitating depression."

An unidentified woman told investigators Matthew Perry saw two doctors recently. His first doctor was treating him with ketamine treatments every other day -- but, his new doctor (of the last 6 months) stated that since Perry was in a good mood, and "his depression was fine," he did not need more treatments.

However, the autopsy report also states that Perry's most recent treatment was a week and a half ago.

At the time of his death, it’s unclear if Dr. Atoian was the new doctor Perry was seeing in the last six months, or the previous one — but, the autopsy report, obtained by The Blast,names him as the “current” doctor.

Ketamine infusion treatments are “quickly being recognized as one of the most important advances in modern-day therapy for depression,” according to Perry’s primary care doctor, Dr. Andre Atoian. “Standard therapy targeting the neurotransmitters involved with mood has not shown to be effective for a large number of individuals who take them. Yet countless individuals continue to take these drugs simply because there is no better option.”

“While new investigations are underway to understand the true scope of ketamine’s powers, current evidence suggests that ketamine has the ability to reset and regrow our brain cells, allowing patients to take back control of their lives,” Dr. Atoian said of the therapy.

Matthew Perry talked about his ketamine therapy in his 2022 memoir, stating that ketamine was a “giant exhale” that he would receive while blindfolded and listening to music.

He added that ketamine “has my name written all over it — they might as well have called it ‘Matty’.”

According to Dr. Atoian, ketamine therapy infusions are conducted in private rooms on comfortable recliner chairs and are done through an intravenous (IV) infusion as it is the most efficient way to deliver the treatment.

The Blast has reached out to Ketamine Specialists for comment.