The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the painkiller OxyContin for use in children between the ages of 11 and 16 who have severe, long-term pain.

OxyContin, which is an extended-release opioid that has been used to treat chronic pain in adults, had been banned for children until now, according to an Associated Press report.

In making the decision, the FDA has directed Purdue Pharma — the maker of the drug — to conduct studies on how to safely use it in children.

Doctors will now be directed to prescribe OxyContin only to children who can tolerate up to 20 milligrams of oxycodone, which is the primary ingredient in the painkiller. This opioid can be quite dangerous because a sudden dose of it can lead to overdose or even death for patients who haven’t been exposed to the drug before.

There is one other opioid that is currently an option for children if OxyContin is too powerful: the Duragesic patch, which releases fentanyl into the body.

OxyContin has a bad reputation for being abused by patients who would sometimes crush the tablets and then snort or inject it for a faster — and more dangerous and addicting — high. To stop this, OxyContin was reformulated in 2010, and the older version of the drug was discontinued.

As with adults, precautions will need to be taken with children whoa re taking the drug. The same health warnings will apply, and physicians will avoid combining the drug with other medications that have sedating effects, which can result in breathing difficulties.

OxyContin is designed to slowly release its contents over a course of 12 hours. They are often used for not only chronic pain but post-surgical or post-traumatic pain, or even for cancer sufferers.