Matthew Perry was addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs. He characterized himself as a ready-made, just-add-water addict, with his first drink at the age of 14, and hooked on painkillers with his first pill, prescribed after a jetski accident. Perrys addiction to alcohol and drugs cost him millions of dollars, months spent in rehab, and even memories from his most famous role. He was drinking two pints of vodka each day in conjunction with up to thirty pills during his darkest days. Perrys addiction began after a jet ski accident in 1997, when he became addicted to Vicodin. That eventually led to alcohol abuse. He was often hungover at work, and in 2000, he was hospitalized with pancreatitis due to alcohol abuse. Perry entered rehab for the first time in 1997, spending 28 days at the Hazelden center in Minnesota. He was in rehab 15 times and underwent no less than 14 surgeries to try and mitigate the damage he did to his stomach lining over the years with alcohol and opioid abuse. Perry was sober for 17 years before his death in October 2023.