Comment by gregw2

This. 100%. So on point.

I'd only add one more observation.

Sometimes the root cause is poor table design (or in analytic/OLAP use cases poor ETL design without proper data validation checks or handling) where uniqueness is not enforced and that is the root cause that should be fixed if at all possible. A "first normal form" violation in the database design so to speak.

If that root cause is not addressed, then SELECT DISTINCT is more often necessary and the SELECT DISTINCT disease to be safe culture and behavior in the code base on top of the database just spreads.