dr. monica burrell. commissioner burrell and the dth have addressed resources to this crisis. you will be with us for the entire half-hour. let' s talk more about the issues in the commonwealth. just how serious is it? commissioner burrell: thank you for having me today to discuss this critical issue. we know that it is a public health emergency. this is an issue not only in massachusetts but across america. estimated over 1200 individuals dying from the opiate overdose in massachusetts. this is a 57% increase in just 2012. if we look back to 20 -- 2004, we have 66 deaths. since then we have lost 6500 individuals to this disease. karen: your numbers are solid. what is the process for gathering the data? he must' ve been a stunted by the high numbers. commissioner bharel: we need to make sure that we understand all of the components of the problem . there are the individuals who are affected by this, and their family members. and then how do we look at that as an aggregate and take the data and say what is really happening here? who is at risk for having an overdose and who is