New Broadway Pharmacy Offers Customized Medication, Free Delivery

Just the other day, one of Patrick Patel's customers was told that the wait for medicine was over an hour at Walgreens. Patel, on the other hand, said his recently opened business——could have the prescription ready in 10 minutes.

Shorter wait, free delivery and customized medication are among the services that give Patel's pharmacy on Broadway the "personal touch" he says is absent from pharmaceutical chains. Through a process called compounding, Patel is able to transform medication from one delivery system to another based on patient needs.

For example, one of Patel's patients had heart surgery and couldn't eat, so he converted the medicine into liquid form that could be taken straight through the stomach. If a child can't take a large tablet, Patel can switch that to liquid form as well, he says. For pain cream to treat inflammation and muscle spasms, he can change an oral delivery system to a topical one in order to bypass potential stomach problems.

Patel explains that compounding is experimental in nature, as he often has to try new formulas to fit the specific needs of customers.

"It's unique. It goes patient to patient," Patel says.

A first-time pharmacy owner, Patel, who is 34, studied for his degree in Michigan and worked at Rite Aid for five years, before specializing in fertility and oncology. The Drug Store, which he opened three months ago, offers oncology, hematology, compounding, pain management, HIV/AIDS, infertility, hepatitis C and rheumatoid arthritis care.

"I've been wanting to do it probably ever since I graduated," Patel says of opening his own pharmacy.

Patel says a common misconception among patients is thinking that they can only fill prescriptions at pharmacy chains who own their insurance plans.

"A lot of times they think they're forced to go to a chain because their insurance plan requires it," he says.

For more information on The Drug Store, 22-18 Broadway in Fair Lawn, call 201-773-6666 or visit www.​TheDrugStoreNJ.​com.