Narcan inventor: Opioid crisis at epidemic proportions

Narcan is the emergency go to treatment in a drug overdose situation and was reportedly used this week to treat singer Demi Lovato, when she collapsed in her Hollywood home.

The inventor of the life-saving treatment tells FOX Business that the opioid crisis in America is growing at a rapid pace.

“This is a crisis of absolutely epidemic proportions,” Opiant Pharmaceuticals CEO Dr. Roger Crystal said during an interview on “Making Money with Charles Payne” on Wednesday.

Crystal, a former emergency room doctor, says the real concern is how the opioid crisis is evolving.

The most recent data indicates Fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin, is the driver behind this expansion of opioid overdose deaths.

“Over 40 percent of opioid overdose deaths in 2016 contained Fentanyl,” said Crystal.

Crystal says the crisis has been boosted by the over prescribing of opioids.

“We are encouraged by the government’s efforts first of all by recognizing addiction as a disease, like a chronic disease like diabetes,” said Chrystal. “We really have to address the addicts at heart as well as the implementation of Fentanyl.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, there were 66,632 total drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2016 and 42,249 deaths linked to opioids.