The White House unveils a new system to track and better prevent opioid overdoses

Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta, shown at an event in August 2022, says the new opioid overdose tracking system could save "tens of thousands of additional lives." (Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

For decades, the U.S. struggled to create a national system for tracking opioid overdoses.

Critics including Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) say the lack of accurate, real-time data has made it harder for health officials to respond as black market pain pills, heroin and illicit fentanyl flooded communities.