State and federal officials have openly acknowledged a growing opioid epidemic in the state for months, but an estimated 20 New Haven overdoses linked to an unknown drug serves as a reminder that the problem is immediate and deadly.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said hundreds of people are dying of overdoses in the state and it’s “unconscionable” that there’s no emergency funding made available.

Murphy said billions in emergency funds were made available after 10 cases of Ebola were reported in 2014 in America, yet “we haven’t appropriated a dime in emergency funds” toward addressing opiate addiction.

“Addiction is a disease. Period. Stop. There’s no choices involved,” Murphy said. “I don’t want this to be a political issue, but Republicans are in charge of Congress, and we’ve got to call on them to act.”

Murphy said his staff would remain in contact with New Haven as a result of the overdoses that occurred Thursday and left three people dead.

Dr. Gail D’Onofrio, medical director in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said Friday that the drug was an as yet unknown synthetic opioid and patients that had used it were experiencing lung and kidney failure.

The hospital and emergency responders used naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, an opioid overdose antidote. The state Department of Public Health announced Friday it was sending 700 more doses to the city.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said his February roundtable led to his report with 23 recommendations for addressing and combatting opiate addiction and overdoses. Recommendations include providing more resources for emergency responders, training doctors against over-prescription of opiates and making drugs like naloxone easily available.

“Congress simply and bluntly must provide the resources, which it has failed to do,” Blumenthal said. “There should be a national call to action.”

Blumenthal said fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is especially popular with “drug profiteers” because of its low cost and high impact, “even though it kills.”

He said the opioid epidemic is “one of the most frightening and scary public health crises of our lifetime.”

The former state attorney general said there must be “a stronger crackdown” on the distribution of opioids in Connecticut.

In a Friday statement, Department of Public Health Commissioner Raul Pino said, at Gov. Dannel Malloy’s direction, his office would send 700 doses of heroin overdose reversing drug Narcan to New Haven for the city’s “first responders, DPH’s needle exchange program and other community providers within the city to replenish supplies that have been severely diminished.” He said his office would remain in contact with the city to provide additional assistance as needed.

James Gill, chief medical examiner, said in an emailed statement that the problem of opioid addition is “multidisciplinary,” involving his office, law enforcement, physicians, mental health care workers and families.

“The OCME’s role is to identify and track these deaths. We can help by determining what drugs are causing the deaths which may help healthcare providers and law enforcement. We also have objective data about how these deaths are increasing or decreasing. This data is important to see if interventions are helping and if the types of drugs being abused are changing,” Gill said.

Gill has repeatedly expressed concern about the number of fatal drug overdoses in the state, with 119 people dead of opioid overdoses during the first three months of 2016, including 110 deaths involving heroin and 83 involving fentanyl, which officials have said is 50 times stronger than heroin.

Gill recently told the Associated Press that he and his staff are looking into renting a refrigerated truck to store bodies in case they run out of space at the office.

Mary Kate Mason, a spokeswoman for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said there is “a significant effort that is working to address the overdose epidemic and efforts range from prevention through treatment to supporting recovery.”

Mason said the Alcohol and Drug Policy Council will update stakeholders in Hartford on Tuesday. She said the state is developing a strategic plan “that will gather all of the efforts we are doing in one place,” which is due for “a very quick turnaround.”

Mason said the MHAS response to opioid addiction is robust and includes public education and developing prevention messaging, as well as treatment and supporting recovery.

Shawn Lang, deputy director of the Hartford-based AIDS Connecticut, said the organization seeks to educate for preventing overdoses.

“We have a syringe exchange program for probably 20 years, and one of the things we’ve been doing with our clients is training them on how to recognize and respond to an overdose, and we’re doing that for well over a year now,” Lang said. “Our clients alone have reversed over 70 overdoses in the past year.”

Lang said she works with people in housing programs, treatment programs and other agencies such as the Department of Correction on how to recognize overdoses and respond.

Lang is chairwoman of the Connecticut Opiate Overdose Prevention Workgroup, which has met for approximately three years.

“Our primary goal is to increase awareness about naloxone and increase access to naloxone,” she said.

Lang said she doesn’t think things are improving with the state’s addiction crisis.

“Longtime drug users are using the same amount, but laced with fentanyl it’s a lot more powerful than just heroin on its own,” she said.

To effectively fight back against the crisis, Lang believes in a multi-pronged approach.

“We have to do better at making sure treatment is available for people when they want it,” she said. “Often people have to wait for days to get into treatment, If they have to wait a lot of the time they’re probably not going into treatment when that bed becomes available.”

Lang said naloxone must also become more readily available as a behind-the-counter drug.

“We have to do a better job of making the public aware they can get naloxone through certain pharmacies,” she said.

AIDS Connecticut links to a database of pharmacies in the state that are known to prescribe naloxone, which is maintained by Connecticut Open Data on its website. Lang recommends that those interested in finding naloxone for themselves or for a family member call the pharmacy ahead of time.

Lang said too often people suffering from overdoses are medically discharged from hospitals without any follow up or recommendations for treatment. She said many doctors also over-prescribe opiates without warning patients of the potential effects.

“That train has left the station and is running wild, seemingly with no brakes on,” she said.

Lang said physicians should warn patients about the dangers of opiates, ask them about any previous addiction history before writing a prescription and also offer to prescribe naloxone with any painkiller prescriptions.