Does this strike anyone else as .... lets put out a drug, see what it does and then market it accordingly? Seems a tad scary to me that you shoot at one target, miss and then move the bullseye.
Doesn’t bother me. For hundreds of years, that’s how medicinal remedies were discovered — by accident. Plus, when a drug ends up being used for something it wasn’t originally intended for, there’s much less chance that the studies supporting it for that use have cherry-picked or made-up results.
That's what happened with Viagra. It was initially being tested as blood-pressure medication. It didn't help with blood pressure, but none of the test subjects were willing to turn in the unused medication when the tests were deemed unsuccessful. Pfizer inquired as to why they weren't getting the ineffective pills back and discovered that the men were happy with the results of the "unsuccessful" drug.
That's what clinical trials are for: to test the effectiveness. But sometimes, they find that it has a desirable side effect.
Minoxidil was originally used to treat high blood pressure. It was found to promote hair growth, and is now available over-the-counter in Rogaine.
Finasteride is used to treat prostate cancer. It was also found to promote hair growth, and is now marketed as Propecia.
Happens all the time. Too much R&D money spent to waste if we simply give up on one application.
If you want to take it to extremes, take a look at aspirin sales today compared to 20 years ago. Once the cardiac benefits were known, aspirin took on a new life.