Acquisitions and Divestitures - 2015 Acquisitions (Details) $ in Thousands, € in Millions										6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 15, 2015 EUR (€)	Aug. 28, 2015 USD ($) product	Aug. 28, 2015 EUR (€) product	May 12, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 30, 2015 USD ($) shares	Mar. 30, 2015 EUR (€) shares	Oct. 31, 2014 USD ($) products	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Oct. 01, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016 EUR (€)	Jun. 27, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 02, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2014 shares	Nov. 08, 2013 USD ($)	Jun. 29, 2013 shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life											20 years
Senior notes										$ 4,698,300			$ 4,720,900	$ 5,373,100			$ 2,300,000
Proceeds from issuance of stock													$ 999,300
Entocort®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition	Dec. 15, 2015
Cash paid for acquisition	$ 380,200
Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition		Sep. 15, 2015	Sep. 15, 2015
Percentage of interest acquired		100.00%	100.00%
Cash paid for acquisition		$ 150,400
ScarAway®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition				Aug. 28, 2015	Aug. 28, 2015
Number of products | product				5	5
Cash paid for acquisition				$ 26,700
GSK Products
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition				Aug. 28, 2015	Aug. 28, 2015
Cash paid for acquisition				$ 223,600
Gelcaps
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition						May 12, 2015
Percentage of interest acquired						100.00%
Cash paid for acquisition						$ 37,900
Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition							Mar. 30, 2015	Mar. 30, 2015
Percentage of interest acquired							95.77%	95.77%
Cash paid for acquisition							$ 2,983,200
Shares outstanding (in shares) | shares							685,348,257	685,348,257
Repurchases of common stock (in shares) | shares							30,243,983	30,243,983
Indemnification available from acquired company's sellers							$ 1,080
Weighted-average useful life							20 years 7 months 6 days	20 years 7 months 6 days
Accounting adjustment to intangibles										$ 10,200
Lumara
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition									Oct. 31, 2014
Cash paid for acquisition									$ 83,000
Number of formulations | products									3
Trademarks, trade names, and brands | Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		20 years	20 years
Trademarks, trade names, and brands | ScarAway®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				25 years	25 years
Trademarks, trade names, and brands | GSK Products
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				20 years	20 years
Trademarks, trade names, and brands | Gelcaps
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						25 years
Trademarks, trade names, and brands | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							8 years	8 years
Brands | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							22 years	22 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful life												18 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks | Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		15 years	15 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks | ScarAway®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				15 years	15 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks | GSK Products
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				15 years	15 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks | Gelcaps
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						20 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							21 years	21 years
Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful life												12 years
Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | ScarAway®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				8 years	8 years
Non-compete agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful life												3 years
Non-compete agreements | Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		3 years	3 years
Non-compete agreements | ScarAway®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				4 years	4 years
Non-compete agreements | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful life							3 years	3 years
Distribution and license agreements, supply agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful life												7 years
Distribution and license agreements, supply agreements | Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		3 years	3 years
Non-solicit agreement | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful life							2 years	2 years
Minimum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | Entocort®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life	10 years
Minimum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							4 years	4 years
Minimum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | Lumara
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life									8 years
Maximum | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Indemnification available from acquired company's sellers | €												€ 127.2
Maximum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | Entocort®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life	15 years
Maximum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							13 years	13 years
Maximum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights | Lumara
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life									12 years
Euro | Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid for acquisition | €			€ 133.5
Euro | GSK Products
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid for acquisition | €					€ 200.0
Euro | Maximum | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Indemnification available from acquired company's sellers | €								€ 120.9
Inventories | Gelcaps
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accounting adjustment to inventory						$ 600
Inventories | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accounting adjustment to inventory							$ 15,100
Property, Plant and Equipment | Gelcaps
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accounting adjustment to property, plant, and equipment						$ 900
Property, Plant and Equipment | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accounting adjustment to property, plant, and equipment							41,500
Long-term debt | Omega Restated
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination fair value adjustment							$ 101,900
2014 bonds
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Senior notes															$ 1,600,000
Common Stock
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Shares outstanding (in shares) | shares										143,100,000			146,300,000	143,400,000		133,800,000		94,100,000
Shares issued during period (in shares) | shares													6,800,000