Just go Lick a Battery

Maybe I should. Now that is an interesting concept. Let me extrapolate on that. No, licking a battery is not a new teenage trend for a cheap high.  It's what a patient on Bi-Polar meds may resort to doing with the sky high rising cost of Lithium.

I'm joking of course about licking a battery, but the rising cost of Lithium is no laughing matter.  The issue gets even more interesting when I found out WHY in recent months Lithium Carbonate, one of the most commonly prescribed medication for Bi-Polar has tripled in price. It is fair to say that Lithium prices fluctuate, but I have been taking it for 20+ years and have never seen it this high.

So a little background information might be helpful. Lithium is naturally present in the brain and throughout the body as a trace element.  Lithium plays a critical role in maintaining a healthy brain. After being prescribed other drugs for Bi-Polar, my doctor and I settled on Lithium to work the best for me.  It was a comfort to know it's a naturally occurring element in my body. I recently found out that the Harvard Medical School has released an on-going study that links Lithium to diminish brain aging and Alzheimer's disease. Amazing and inspiring research! 

I never thought of Lithium as gold, but it is a mineral extracted from ore and manufactured with processes similar  to that of many "precious minerals".  To achieve Lithium Carbonate medication, however, there are many complicated steps to achieve pharmaceutical grade purity.

The main driving force behind the rising cost is the demand for lithium ion batteries for use in electric vehicles. And here I thought the numbers of patients diagnosed with Bi-Polar had tripled (along with the price)  Obviously, the processes utilized for the production of  lithium batteries and lithium medication are  different, yet the origination of the mineral is the same. I find it hard to believe that many sources claim that the COVID-19 pandemic still has a lasting effect on supply chains and limiting mining capacity. I guess the pandemic affected us in more ways than we realize.  Then because of fluctuations in mining, production is very volatile, thereby making prices go up and down. I'm hoping that they eventually will go down. Now many may be thinking "Why don't you just pay for prescription drug coverage under Medicare?" I did look into that, and it's just not worth it for one medication.  My premiums would be higher than justifying the purchase of the medication.. Besides this is a medication I have been on and it USED to cost me next to nothing...about $13 for a 3 month supply. I guess I shouldn't complain, some people have very costly medications. However, the reason lithium prices have increased is what really blows me away.

I spoke with my Husband about this odd and unlikely connection between Lithium prices and electric car battery demand. In his most ominous voice he declared: "It's all Connected." This brought me a chuckle because we had just finished a dramatic series on Netflix: Manifest, where the phrase: It's all connected" was repeated over and over. It's a story of on airplane crash and the passengers, presumed dead who have come back years later. Problems of the past are solved with problems in the future. Yes, "it's all connected".  Yes, there is a connection between the cost of  my medication and the demand for electric vehicle batteries. So many things in our world truly are connected, but I personally think this is an odd one.  I guess I'm destined to pay the higher prices until the come back down, and the are precited to decline, or at least fluctuate.  I promise not to just lick a battery for my Lithium needs. 

I will take my meds, as prescribed, morning and night, but the cost is a "hard pill to swallow". Perhaps the price will go down, it could happen. Volatile market, remember?

                    Julie Etta Smith