I've been getting spam recently advertising the drug Soma (well, technically I've been getting spam for "S oma", "s o m a", "s0ma", and other variants of the word. Hopefully they're chemically-equivalent-but-cheaper generic alternatives to the name-brand). What's this, now "cheep on-lin3 pharmaceuticaI" companies are selling fictional drugs?
Lo and behold, soma is being used as a brand name for the muscle relaxant carisoprodol. When combined with Vicodin it supposedly produces effects similar to heroin use. No doubt the manufacturer used the name soma for both its free marketing boost from popular fiction and because of the drug's effects.
Huxley didn't invent the word though. Whether coincidental or chosen purposefully (most likely the latter given Huxley's experimental drug use), soma is the name of a god/plant/drink from religious texts dating back to 800 BC or earlier. Far out, man.
If I was producing a muscle relaxant, I probably wouldn't want to associate it with a fictional drug with hallucinogenic properties. Then again, that might mean a boost in sales.
A gramme is better than a damn.