The director for noninfectious diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rita Noonan, says the first wave of the opioid epidemic was due to over-prescription.

“We are literally talking about the public health epidemic of our lifetime,” said Noonan. “We have already surpassed the number of deaths due to HIV at the peak of that epidemic if you want to put it into perspective.”

Read more at NJ TV News.