How to safely order medication online

It is estimated 36 million Americans have bought their medicines from rogue Internet sites, many searching for quality drugs at a better price.

Deputy Director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Kumar Kibble tracks counterfeits from their source in clandestine labs to the United States, where they're typically sold through the rogue sites, often posing as legitimate pharmacies.

But as Kibble explains to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, not all online pharmacies are illegitimate.

There is something consumers can look out for to determine whether their online pharmacy is legitimate: "The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has created an accreditation process called VIPPS. And if I was ever going to order anything online from an online pharmacy, I would be looking for that VIPPS accreditation from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. You know, they looked at 7,000 Web sites. And determined that only four percent of them were in compliance with laws having to do with pharmaceuticals," Kibble explained.

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"I mean, there's a lot of people who get their meds off the Internet, off Web sites," Dr. Gupta remarked. "What's the message for them?"

"The message for them is to be careful, because what you see may not be what you're getting. And to really go towards, if you're gonna try to get something from an online pharmacy, to follow the recommendations of the N.A.P.B. and look for that accreditation," Kibble recommended.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg also told "60 Minutes" the FDA has online resources available.