'Friends' star Mathew Perry died because of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Question

This claim is completely false and misleading. Yes, some people who get the COVID-19 vaccine might endure some complications but not for Matthew Perry. After doing some research on the user, "vikkifromjersey", on their TikTok platform, it was quickly revealed that they presented themselves as a huge advocate for anti vaccination. Matthew Perry's death was not caused or connected to the COVID-19 vaccine. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner stated that the autopsy report of Matthew Perry's death showed the usage of ketamine. Perry was using "... ketamine infusion therapy, an experimental treatment used to treat depression and anxiety." Because Mathew Perry was sitting in a hot tub while he was using ketamine, it caused him to lose consciousness and drown. Ketamine is approved by the U.S. health regulatory, but is mainly used for surgeries but has been used as an "...experimental treatment for a range of psychiatric and hard-to-treat conditions, including depression, anxiety and chronic pain." The autopsy ruled Perry's death from "the effects of ketamine" so this proves that the COVID-19 vaccine did not play a role in his death. This claim was intended to mislead others. 

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/autopsy-report-shows-actor-matthew-perry-died-from-effects-of-ketamine 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/302663 

Comments

I agree with your statements about this claim. Your sources were verified websites, and that contain very little misinformation. Matthew Perry had many underlying diseases due to drug abuse at an early age, which caused his health to rapidly decline. Also, even though Perry was "Anti-Vaccine" reports from covidvaccinefacts.org stated that dying from the effects of the vaccine is very rare. Out of 310 million doses given out from December 2020, to June 2021, only 5,000 deaths were recorded saying the vaccine was the cause of it.

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I agree that this claim is false. However, it is possible for Perry to experience complications after receiving his vaccination. For example, a journal published in the National Library of Medicine discussed the neurological complications following COVID-19 vaccination. Some findings of neurological complications include "cortical sinus venous thrombosis, Bell’s palsy, transverse myelitis, and Guillain–Barré syndromes along with other common effects such as headaches". In addition, "worsening of pre-existing neurological disorders" is also a great concern. Unless Perry's medical records are released, there's no way of confirming that Perry experienced the complications mentioned above, or if his use of ketamine is used to treat those complications.

To add more information, Perry's autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner stated that one of the contributing factors to his death was the use of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat addiction and pain. Even though ketamine was the main cause of Perry's death, there are several other contributing factors, such as buprenorphine. But nowhere on the autopsy report does it mention COVID vaccine.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9707152/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.html

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/matthew-perry-cause-of-death-ketamine-1235772053/

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I'm wondering where you found the claim that Perry was "Anti-Vaccine". Was there an interview where he said that explicitly? Did he voluntarily express his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine?

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I completely agree that the accusation linking his death to the vaccine is false. Your reference to the autopsy report debunks this claim. I also did some research, and various credible sources highlight that numerous anti-vaxxers are purposefully exploiting his death to falsely claim that the COVID vaccine is to blame. The Rolling Stone article, which echoes the information you provided, emphasizes Matthew Perry's health challenges resulting from drug addiction, including 15 rehab stints, 14 surgeries, and a two-week coma.

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I agree with your claim about the accusation of his death from the vaccine. Your references in this claim were reliable and also contained little misinformation. Matthew Perry did have previous health problems, was in a two-week coma, and suffered from drug problems. His autopsy also showed the use of buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid use disorder and coronary artery disease (LA County Medical Examiner). He used ketamine as a therapy for anxiety and depression. After looking at the autopsy, nowhere does it talk about the COVID-19 vaccine as a cause of his death.

Sources:
https://me.lacounty.gov/2023/press-releases/cause-and-manner-of-death-determined-for-matthew-langford-perry/
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/15/1219761972/what-is-ketamine-friends-matthew-perry

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I agree with your claim that it is false and misleading. It is said in the NPR news that he did have a history of drug addiction, "His drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine -- a medication used to treat opioid use disorder" (Bowman). Although these were not the ultimate causes of his death they were definitely contributions. The report also states that he was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for his depression and anxiety. It was later found in his system during the autopsy. CBS News concluded that, "an overdose of ketamine can cause unconsciousness and dargerlusoly slowed breathing" (Tabachnick). Reports have been saying this is what caused him to drown from the effects of ketamine. In both articles that I mentioned there is also no report that the COVID-19 vaccine had affected him in any way and that was definitely not the cause of his death.

Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matthew-perry-cause-of-death-ketamine/
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/15/1219759019/matthew-perry-cause-of-death

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I agree with your claim. The tiktoker who posted the claim was very clearly pushing a narrative about COVID-19 vaccines being harmful. If you look up the direct autopsy from the LA County Medical Examiner which is the government website states that he died due to "acute effects of ketamine" which Perry used to treat Depression and anxiety. He also was reported to be taking buprenorphine which is used to treat "opioid use disorder." However, we just know that he had drowned. We do not know exactly what caused him to drown because it could be symptoms of the ketamine therapy and or buprenorphine.

Sources:
https://me.lacounty.gov/2023/press-releases/cause-and-manner-of-death-determined-for-matthew-langford-perry/

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I agree with your claim that this information was false. I researched the TikTok profile that was provided and it is clear that they are purposefully spreading misinformation about vaccines because of their stance on the issue. I also researched the LA County Medical Examiner site and it is confirmed that the cause of death was in fact ketamine and was not related to the Covid-19 vaccine.

https://www.tiktok.com/@vikkifromjersey

https://me.lacounty.gov/2023/press-releases/cause-and-manner-of-death-determined-for-matthew-langford-perry/

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response to @kaylachangs comment:
 "I'm wondering where you found the claim that Perry was "Anti-Vaccine". Was there an interview where he said that explicitly? Did he voluntarily express his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine?"


The original poster did not claim that Matthew Perry was anti-vaccine. They claimed that the tiktoker 'vikkifromjersey'  posted a video claiming Perry died from the COVID-19 vaccine is the person in this story who is anti-vaccination. If you look into Perrys' history with vaccination you can see that he has been an open advocate for vaccinations. Perry has posted on Instagram encouraging vaccination including his post  from May 21, 2021 of Perry himself wearing a shirt saying "Could I BE any more vaccinated."

Sources:
https://www.instagram.com/mattyperry4/p/CPREL9TH4eL/

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I was talking about the Tiktoker "vikkifromjersey" posting false information about the Covid-19 vaccine, not Matthew Perry.

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I entirely agree that it is untrue to say that the vaccination caused his death. This claim is dismissed by your reference to the autopsy report. I also did some research, and a number of reliable sources show that many anti-vaxxers are intentionally using his passing to make false accusations that the COVID vaccine is to blame. The Rolling Stone article highlights Matthew Perry's health issues stemming from his drug addiction, including 15 rehab stays, 14 surgeries, and a two-week coma. This information is consistent with what you provided.

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After further research I can concur that this statement is true. Matthew Perry's death was not influenced by Covid-19 in the slightest. After reviewing your links I noticed that nothing was mentioned about Covid, so I looked up Andrew Dalton (AP). Dalton had published another report on the AP news and did not mention Covid, mainly Ketamine, "The amount of ketamine detected “would be enough to make him lose consciousness and lose his posture and his ability to keep himself above the water,” said Dr. Andrew Stolbach. In your claim you mentioned a tiktok video posted by "vikkifromjersey", it is apparent she has been making false claims about viruses. She has claimed that blood clots and now Matthew Perrys' death as a factor of the vaccine. This makes her account false and filled with misinformation. Matthew Perry died from ketamine and unfortunately was in the hot-tube when he passed.

Sources: https://apnews.com/article/matthew-perry-death-cause-054e67f7495845804f801c57a1ae2522
Tiktok: vikkifromjersey

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I agree with what you are saying here. TikTok is not a reliable source, and many people put misleading information on there considering it is a social media platform. A more reliable source would be LA county medical than tik tok, and the information you found there is 100% more reliable.

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Your information on this topic is amazing. You dove deep into another article posted by NPR. The quotes provided helped give the reader helpful bits of information that are key to the published article. I agree with you that the post is misleading. For your report did you check the tiktok of "vikkifromjersey" to see what false information she was posting? And if not was there a reason?

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You provided a very good and in depth source and background for everyone else to follow. You dove deep enough to provide helpful information for the community to take and run with. The PBS document talked about Matthew and his use of ketamine for his procdueres and surgeries. You provided both a educational source from PBS and a tik tok source which shows you were doing research, since the two platforms are vastly different.

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I completely agree with the fact that this statement is completely untrue and misleading. After doing my research it was clear that his death was caused by acute effects of ketamine and not the Covid-19 vaccine. There are many reliable sources on the internet and I agree that TikTok is not

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I agree with your line of reasoning. It was a good idea to do some research on the person who originally made the claim and how their personal beliefs could affect the validity of their claim. Citing the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner is a good example of a trustworthy source, as well as describing what ketamine is and the effects it can have on the body.

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I agree that this information is completely untrue. There has been information given to the public directly from family and people who were close to him. TikTok users definitely are not reliable sources.

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Yeah this claim is quite ridiculous and disrespectful and I am glad that this fact check exposes the claim well. People should not be leveraging their political biases on ones' passing who was later confirmed to have nothing to do with the cause of his death. A lot of people will post misinformation to compliment their own beliefs and find.

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You gave an in-depth and substantial analysis of the claim. The PBS article clearly outlines how Matthew Perry's use of Ketamine in treatment of his depression and anxiety caused his death. The original source being a tik tok proves all you really need to know about this being a false claim, especially coming from a politically charged content creator. The internet is an extremely volatile and harmful tool in cases like this. You did a great job in proving this claim to be false.

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Your fact check was very thorough and clear. It was very beneficial to include how your research led to you finding out this guy is an advocate for anti vaccination because it just shows the bias within the article. The articles you chose were also beneficial to fact checking this. I also agree that this is untrue.

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Well written answer. I like how you went into depth about how ketamine affects the body when used in hot water and why he was using in the first place. This Tiktok claim was so obviously biased. Why do you think people thought it was from the covid vaccine? I have looked it up and there are many articles claiming it is from the vaccine. Do you think that is just biased news? Or was there some misleading content with Matthew Perry and the Covid vaccine?

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I like how you pointed out the evidence of it being founded by Tik tok users. Definitely not a reliable source!

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This is a really great fact check, I love how there's multiple credible sources cited and a lot of detailed explanation as to why the claim is incredible instead of just fact dropping. I'm curious as to why the tiktok user made this claim to begin with, did they cite any source or was the post's purpose to lead and decieve?

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This is a very good fact check. You used good sources that clearly showed and explained the bias being used in the Tik Tok. You also explained very well the general information about Ketamine and how Matthew Perry was using it (in the hot tub). Giving clear examples like the autopsy information that was posted and how it can not be related to the COVID vaccine.

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Very interesting that this started from a tik tok account. Other sources such a Poynter, a news fact checker, spoke how these claims were debunked and there was no evidence to back.

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/matthew-perry-autopsy-report-death-cause-no-evidence-covid/

You used really good sources to debunk the fact that it wasn't Covid related and was in fact caused by his ketamine use/ treatment.

In another article from the New York Times, they say that his death was a mix of multiple things. Drowning, coronary artery disease and "acute effects of ketamine." The ketamine being the main culprit as he had a level of ketamine in his system that is equal to what doctors would use for anesthesia.

Looking more into the tik tok account, she is known to talk a lot about blood clots being caused from the COVID vaccine. With Perry being diagnosed with a artery disease I can see how she would attempt to make the link. Even thought Coronary artery disease is caused by the build up of plaque in the arteries and not blood clots.


https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronary-artery-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350613

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.html

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Hello! Very nice catch. I appreciate that you debunked this claim by using reliable sources, like PBS and Medical News Today. Also, good job reminding others that this claim was made by an anti-vax TikToker. Unfortunate as it is, many kids nowadays get their news from TikTok and don't use reliable sources. They don't question it, which in this case, the claim was easily debunked by a simple fact check. I would be interested to see this TikTok and see if the user had any "evidence", or if they were just presenting lies as information.

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I liked how you mentioned that the claim was found by tiktok users, which is definitely not a reliable source and could be easily disproven.

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This is a great fact check. Adding multiple sources and using quotes helps support your claim. Your statement is very to the point and addresses the misleading information head on. I appreciate the amount of detail that you put into looking for the truth. I would not have expected the original creator to be trying to push their own agenda instead of  publishing truthful news. Well done!

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Good job, finding the bias of the user to understand their credibility.

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This is a very good fact check, but it seems prudent to mention that Ketamine is used as a recreational drug in quantities more likely to cause loss of consciousness than a standard medically approved infusion. Specifically mentioning only its medical administration may mislead readers into thinking there was an element of malpractice in the accidental drowning.

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Your response provided me with alot of fast and accurate information. It quickly educated me on the false and misleading claim that was posted. Stating out right off the bat with saying it was both false and misleading is helpful and corrects the information quickly for people even if they don't feel like continuing with reading the rest of the paragraph. I thought your sources were strong and backed up your claims but think you could view a few more sources to learn and be able to explain better that his death was deemed after the autopsy as a mix of things, ketamine one of those.

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Though it seems wise to point out that ketamine is taken recreationally in amounts that are more likely to induce unconsciousness than a typical infusion with medical approval, this is still a very solid fact check. It might give readers the impression that there was malpractice involved in the unintentional drowning if you just discuss the medication's medical delivery.

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Its crazy how far the anti vaccine community will stretch to try and prove themselves right. It is important to note the original poster "vikkifromjersey" is a huge antivaxer one look at her page and it is not hard to tell.

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Your response was well organized and you used background information on the vaccines as well as research to come to conclusion on your answer. As I agree with your conclusion, why did the mention of taking ketamine come into your answer? I think that your TikTok source is not a good one to use as that person has been known to be an anti vaccine affiliate.

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I appreciate the concision of your fact check. It does not include unnecessary information that distracts the reader from your central claim. Adding more information on who posted the claim regarding Covid-19 playing a "role" in Matthew Perry's death could be more helpful.

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Your response gave me a lot of quick and accurate information. It taught me that the claim posted was wrong and misleading. Starting by saying it was false and misleading helps correct the information even if people don't read the whole thing. Your sources were good, but maybe you could look at a few more to explain better that his death was caused by a mix of things, including ketamine, according to the autopsy.

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The summary of the problem and inclusion of quotes from the article really proves this to be false. This was a very in depth and convincing analysis that thouroughly disproved the claim.

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I am a student at the U of O and we are doing an assignment on fact-checking on this site. I found an article on PBS, which I believe to be a very trustworthy site that has been used in the past on this site to fact-check others. They gave a statement stating

 "Matthew Perry died from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine, according to the results of an autopsy on the 54-year-old “Friends” actor released Friday." Also very known Perry had suffered with a drug addiction for most of his life and struggled with it while filming the show 'friends'


https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/autopsy-report-shows-actor-matthew-perry-died-from-effects-of-ketamine#:~:text=Autopsy%20report%20shows%20actor%20Matthew%20Perry%20died%20from%20effects%20of%20ketamine,-Arts%20Dec%2016&text=LOS%20ANGELES%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Matthew,%E2%80%9CFriends%E2%80%9D%20actor%20released%20Friday.

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Upon digging into the death of Matthew Perry's, claims that the covid vaccine killed the actor were quickly debunked. Numerous news sites such as Poynter and RollingStone have addressed the misleading rumors. They reiterate that Perry's death was a caused by drug overdose and an accumulation of preexisting health problems from years of drug addiction. This rumor began in the comment section of an Instagram post of Perry's photo, an unreliable source and piety dish for rumors. RollingStone titles their article: "Twisted Anti-Vaxxers Rush to Blame Matthew Perry’s Death on Covid Vaccine". For this, we can see that this is simply a rumor and the covid vaccine was not the culprit in Perry's death.

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He didn't die due to COVID-19. He previously was addicted to drugs and drowned due to unknown circumstances. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/autopsy-report-shows-actor-matthew-perry-died-from-effects-of-ketamine#:~:text=Autopsy%20report%20shows%20actor%20Matthew%20Perry%20died%20from%20effects%20of%20ketamine,-Arts%20Dec%2016&text=LOS%20ANGELES%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Matthew,%E2%80%9CFriends%E2%80%9D%20actor%20released%20Friday.

Answer 1

This article is very misleading. Matthew Perry's actual cause of death was reported by Healthline, CBS, New York Times, and more. These sources revealed his autopsy reported he died from "acute effects of ketamine," not the COVID-19 Vaccine. Matthew Perry suffered from a life of addiction and there is nothing to show that the vaccine affected his health. This claim is entirely false and misleading. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matthew-perry-cause-of-death-ketamine/

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/matthew-perry-cause-of-death-acute-effects-of-ketamine#:~:text=Actor%20Matthew%20Perry%20died%20of,and%20the%20effects%20of%20buprenorphine.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.html

Answer 2

I did a little further digging into this claim and found very similar results. Mathew Perry the "Friends" star did not in fact die from the covid-19 vaccine. As Matt Stevens and Derrick Bryson Taylor wrote in the New York Times "The medical examiner’s office said that drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of an opioid, buprenorphine, had contributed to his death. But the autopsy ascribed his death primarily to “the acute effects of ketamine". With finding that along with a bit of a further deep dive into the user "vikkifromjersey's" tiktok account I can concur that this is not the first time a claim like this has been made. Ever since the arrival of these vaccines claims of misinformation such as the vaccine causing blood clots have constantly been a theme on her page. That further discredits the validity of her claim which further makes me believe that this claim of Matthew Perry dying from the Covid-19 Vaccine is far from the truth

Comments

The Autopsy was performed by addiction specialist Scott Hadland according to KSBW8 News.

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Sources
- https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.html
- https://www.ksbw.com/article/addiction-specialist-gives-perspective-on-matthew-perry-autopsy-results/46166901#

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Your research on this topic is very well informing. You wanted to make sure you got all the facts, and dove deep into the internet to find the mainstream of all these sources used to make this initial claim. I also read on New York Times that while there were other complications do the death of Matthew Perry, the main cause was use of ketamine.

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When you say that her claim is invalid, you should dive deeper into the sources and claims she uses to disprove what she is saying now and in the past. Not just say that she has made this claim before. What if she was right about other claims? Prove that she isn't valid by explaining her lack of or use of unreliable sources.

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I agree with that because I took a look at "vikkifromjersey's" TikTok account myself. I specifically checked for videos about COVID, and I found a many videos where she looks to be very anti-vaxx. Also many of the videos make claims that can easily be shown to be untrue.

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If you are going to disagree with someone's claim you need to dig deeper into there sources and verify those sources to determine how they are using the information to make their point.

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I found the same article and I agree with all of your points. Honestly, all it took was a quick check of the TikTok profile to assume there was something off here. The content seemed inflammatory and completely fabricated.

Answer 3

The article does not appear to show anything about his struggle with the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. He had many underlying conditions due to his prolonged drug usage from a young age. The article mentions that he died from ketamine and other drugs that were found in his autuopsy report.

Comments

reply to @Samc123
"The article does not appear to show anything about his struggle with the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. He had many underlying conditions due to his prolonged drug usage from a young age. The article mentions that he died from ketamine and other drugs that were found in his autopsy report."

I agree, but you should clarify that Matthew was using ketamine to treat mental illness, as you can use Ketamine to treat severe depression. Perry had been undergoing ketamine therapy, not using it recreationally.  I think that is important to mention. He also had not received the treatment for over a week, so it couldn't have been possible the amount of ketamine in his system was left from his last treatment.

Source:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketamine-for-treatment-resistant-depression-when-and-where-is-it-safe-202208092797

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.htmlSource:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketamine-for-treatment-resistant-depression-when-and-where-is-it-safe-202208092797

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Your notes about things mentioned in the article do make sense in supporting why the claim is fake, but where did you find information about his underlying conditions from prolonged drug usage? You don't list or link where you found this information. Are those sources reliable?

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You have a good start going with this answer, but in order to support your claims I recommend attaching a link to the article and/or sources that you used to find this information, such as where you found the autopsy report information.

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Your answer is solid but your answer lacks concrete evidence from other sources to contradict the claim. I think some more research to go along with the answer would really enhance the quality.

Answer 4

After very surface-level amounts of digging, it is clear that this claim is false and trying to spread misinformation. After researching many trustworthy sites, it is clear that Perry died from the acute effects of Ketamine. This was while he was doing Ketamine therapy to treat his anxiety and depression. Not once do any of these articles mention the Covid-19 vaccine and its possible effects on Perry.

sources: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/autopsy-report-shows-actor-matthew-perry-died-from-effects-of-ketamine

https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/ketamine-depression-treatment#takeaway

Answer 5

The tiktoker who posted the claim that Matthew Perry died from the Covid-19 vaccine 'vikkifromjersey'  was very clearly pushing a narrative about covid-19 vaccines being harmful. If you look up the direct autopsy from the LA County Medical Examiner which is the government website states that he died due to "acute effects of ketamine" which Perry used to treat depression and anxiety. He also was reported to be taking buprenorphine which is used to treat "opioid use disorder." However, we just know that he had drowned. We do not know exactly what caused him to drown because it could be symptoms of the ketamine therapy and or buprenorphine.

Sources:

https://me.lacounty.gov/2023/press-releases/cause-and-manner-of-death-determined-for-matthew-langford-perry/

https://www.tiktok.com/@vikkifromjersey?lang=en

Comments

I appreciate that you provided a claim that is very straight to the point, while being informational. For example, that you mentioned the two drugs that were found in his system, while also mentioning that the source you used was in fact a government source, which has no tolerance for falsity.

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I think you nailed it here by citing the original autopsy report from LA County. In my opinion, this is the primary source that people should use when speculating Perry's death. There is no tangible evidence that supports the theory of "heat activation" and the TikTok channel is attempting to spread disinformation.

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I totally agree that Tik Tokers push the agenda about whatever their own opinion is not factual information which can be misleading. Posting the link to the autopsy was very helpful as they are a reliable source. There is a lot of speculation on Matthew Perrys death and this was the straight to the point which was nice to read.

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I completely agree because Tik Tokers spread misinformation and push their own agendas by sharing opinions that may not be supported by facts. Since the autopsy is a trustworthy source, posting the link to it was highly beneficial. There is a lot of conjecture around Matthew Perry's passing, so it was good to read something that was concise.

Answer 6

This claim is false, and quite a stretch from the truth. I could not find any information or sources discussing the relation between the COVID 19 vaccination, and Matthew Perry's death. As provided by many news outlets and media sources, Matthew Perry passed due to drowning in his hot tub at his home, after a full autopsy, and testing. Further, according to the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner website, Perry's death was determined as "the acute effects of ketamine." Additionally, sources such as the New York Times have spoken to the coroner's office, and released information regarding Perry's death, stating that "The coroner’s office said Matthew Perry had ketamine and the opioid buprenorphine in his system when he died." With that being said, there is very large reason to believe that this claim is false. 

https://me.lacounty.gov/2023/press-releases/cause-and-manner-of-death-determined-for-matthew-langford-perry/ 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.html

Comments

This was a clear, concise fact check. I like that you used an official source, showing you went beyond just finding an article about his death.

Answer 7

I googled, "Matthew Perry died from covid vaccine" and every source that came up either said that these were social media claims or that these claims were nonsense. According to this Rolling Stones article, https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/matthew-perry-death-blamed-on-covid-19-vaccine-by-anti-vaxxers-1234865224/ law enforcement services confirm directly to Rolling Stones that Perry died from an "apparent drowning." Several prominent right-wing, anti-vax Twitter accounts blamed Perry's death on being vaccinated for COVID-19 before an official cause of death had been established by the police department. The author of this article is Marlow Stern who has worked in journalism for many years, has his master's in journalism from Columbia, and is a journalism professor at Columbia.  

Comments

I did the same Google search that you did and got the same results. All sources that I was able to find were untrustworthy and false claims. I think you did a good job of linking your article to back up your findings!

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I noticed the same thing during my research. All of the sources saying he died from the COVID vaccine were all coming from sources that were not reliable

Answer 8

After viewing the video, I visited "vikkifromjersey" on TikTok to see any additional content the user published. The content seems to be baseless claims, especially regarding COVID-19 and its vaccines. I found this NY Times article by Matt Stevens https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/arts/matthew-perry-cause-death-friends.html Stevens cites the genuine autopsy report as the article highlights the extreme levels of ketamine found in Perry's blood. I viewed the author's profile on the NYT website, and I found that he also previously wrote at the Los Angeles Times, where he is known for reporting on the drought in Southern California. Stevens also emphasizes the importance of ethical reporting: "Like all Times journalists, I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook. I believe deeply in treating people fairly. That means approaching subjects without preconceptions, trying to give all parties the chance to be heard and being transparent about our reporting.."

With this evidence, I can safely assume that Stevens is ethical and trustworthy, whereas "vikkifromjersey" is just trying to gain internet clout. 

Answer 9

This claim is factually incorrect. According to Perry's autopsy report, the cause of his death was the "acute effects of ketamine" along with "Drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects. Perry was using ketamine and buprenorphine to overcome his struggles with addiction. All of this is reported in this CBS News article: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matthew-perry-cause-of-death-ketamine/

Comments

I appreciate that your information is correct and you share it consciously. I think this is inviting to a reader without a lot of time or care to read more. I think you could've examined the origination of this claim a little more such as the account that posted it or the motive behind the post to make your claim stronger. It helps back up your information that you have your source sited, but the more sources the better and more well researched your work will look!

Answer 10

The claim that “‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry died because of the Covid-19 vaccine” is false and misleading. Matthew Perry’s death was not deemed caused by or linked to the Covid-19 vaccine and spreading this kind of false information can give people misleading information that could lead to harm. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner reported that the autopsy reported the usage of ketamine in Matthew Perry's system but mentioned nothing about the covid-19 vaccine. I researched the account that this post comes originates from, “vikkifromjersey”. After just a quick skim of her account I found that “vikkifromjersey” promotes herself online as a massive anti vaccination advocate. The user supplies minimal research and evidence with her posts and others should be wary of the information the account puts out. PBS published an article titled “Autopsy report shows actor Matthew Perry died from effects of ketamine” which shares the findings that Matthew Perry was using ketamine while in a hot tub which caused him to lose consciousness and drown. Because the medical examiner ruled the death of Matthew Perry as effects of ketamine, one can conclude that the covid-19 vaccine has no role in his death and that this is harmful misinformation being put out in the media for attention and to advocate for anti vaccination. I also found the claim of  Matthew Perry’s cause of death backed up in an article from the New York Times where author Stevens states the genuine autopsy report including extreme levels of ketamine found in Perry's blood. The claim that he died from the Covid-19 vaccine is false. 

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/autopsy-report-shows-actor-matthew-perry-died-from-effects-of-ketamine

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/autopsy-report-shows-actor-matthew-perry-died-from-effects-of-ketamine

Comments

I think that you found a lot of good, valid sources to back up your findings! I found a lot of similar things when I was searching. During my searching I saw that there were no valid sources being found, it was only tweets and Instagram comments. These mostly came from far right-wing supporters and even candidates.