One of medicine’s oldest and cheapest heart drugs has delivered a striking result in a modern clinical trial: low-dose digoxin cut hospitalizations for heart failure by roughly a quarter.
The drug — derived from the foxglove plant and used for more than two centuries — costs less than 10 cents a day. In a trial led by researchers at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands, patients given low-dose digoxin had about 25% fewer heart-failure hospitalizations than those on placebo. The results were published in Nature Medicine and presented alongside a report in JAMA.
How the trial was run
The study enrolled roughly 1,000 patients across 43 centers in the Netherlands and followed them for about three years, comparing low-dose digoxin against placebo on top of standard heart-failure therapy. Beyond fewer hospital admissions, investigators also reported a 19% reduction in a combined measure of cardiovascular death and worsening heart failure, though that broader endpoint did not reach statistical significance on its own.
Why it matters
Modern heart-failure care increasingly relies on newer, expensive medicines. A positive result for a generic drug that costs pennies a day could be especially meaningful for health systems and patients where cost and access are barriers. Digoxin needs careful dosing and monitoring — too much can be toxic — and the low-dose approach tested here reflects lessons from decades of experience with the drug.
This article describes clinical-trial findings and is not medical advice. Decisions about heart-failure medication should be made with a qualified clinician.