Basis of Presentation (Details) - ASU 2016-09 $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
Cumulative effect on retained earnings, Net of tax	$ (5.8)
Cumulative effect on retained earnings, Tax	$ 3.2

Amount of the cumulative effect on retained earnings net of related income tax effect.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 250
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64853466&loc=d3e22663-107794

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CumulativeEffectOnRetainedEarningsNetOfTax1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of the related income tax effect of a cumulative effect on retained earnings.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CumulativeEffectOnRetainedEarningsTax1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NewAccountingPronouncementsOrChangeInAccountingPrincipleLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AdjustmentsForNewAccountingPronouncementsAxis=uthr_AccountingStandardsUpdate201609Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: