Health Quality Ontario is offering up new standards for health care professionals to consider when prescribing opioids to patients.
The guidelines offer direction in the treatment of both acute pain, like a broken bones or surgery, and chronic pain from things like lower back pain or arthritis.
A third standard outlines how to treat people with an opioid use disorder or addiction.
According to Health Quality Ontario, nearly two million people in Ontario fill prescriptions for opioids every year.