The number of children dying of opioid overdoses has more than tripled in the past two decades, according to a new report from the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The report found that nearly 9,000 pediatric deaths from 1999 through 2016 were from opioid poisoning.

Nearly 7 percent of those deaths were children age 4 or younger.

Addiction expert Steven Chassman, of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, says he's been seeing an increase locally as well. He calls the numbers "indicative of the public health crisis we're seeing" and adds that there needs to be more education.

Krista Bertschi, of Coram, lost her son Anthony to an overdose in January 2017. She says change also needs to happen within the health insurance system in order to reverse the trend.

Researchers say there's no end in sight until legislators, public health officials and parents tackle the crisis that is "pediatric-specific and family-centered."