Healthcare industry 'restrained' from properly treating fentanyl addiction: Experts

Fentanyl is a man-made drug that, in its purest form, can be 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times that of heroin.

Medical professionals behind the scenes are calling for more progressive treatment options, such as safe-use sites and replacement medicines.

The medical community's response to helping people dependent on opioids has been "restrained from being able to properly address the problem," one expert said.

“This should be uniting us, not dividing us,” Gonzales said in a phone interview with the Washington Examiner Monday. “How do we stop it from getting in our country? How do we stop it from killing our people?.. If somebody is responsible for killing our people, how do we hold them accountable? And then how do you help those that have gone through this and lived on the other side of it?”.