A new, reassuring study finds that men can take the diabetes drug metformin without worrying that their offspring will suffer from birth defects.

Potential fathers with type 2 diabetes can be reassured that taking the drug metformin is not associated with birth defects in their offspring, concludes a large study of more than 3

The findings, based on more than 3 million pregnancies and published by The BMJ, showed that metformin can continue to be considered a suitable drug for managing blood sugar levels in men.

Recent research raised concerns that metformin could promote birth defects in children by damaging the quality of a man’s sperm. But this study of more than 3 million pregnancies, published Oct. 16 in the BMJ,