Acquisitions and Divestitures - 2015 Acquisitions (Details) $ in Thousands, € in Millions								3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 15, 2015 EUR (€)	Sep. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 28, 2015 USD ($) product	May 12, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 30, 2015 USD ($) shares	Oct. 31, 2014 USD ($) products	Jun. 27, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Oct. 01, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017 EUR (€) product	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) product shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) product shares	Jun. 27, 2015 USD ($) product shares	Dec. 02, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2014 shares	Nov. 08, 2013 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life										20 years
Impairment of intangible assets, definite-lived intangible												$ 19,700	$ 665,600
Business combination, number of products purchased | product											3	3	2	2
Senior notes								$ 4,698,300				$ 2,906,000	$ 5,373,100	$ 4,698,300			$ 2,300,000
Common Stock
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Shares outstanding (in shares) | shares								146,300,000	143,100,000			140,800,000	143,400,000	146,300,000		133,800,000
Shares issued during period (in shares) | shares														6,800,000
Proceeds from issuance of stock														$ 999,300
Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)											12 years	12 years
Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)											17 years	17 years
Non-compete agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)											2 years	2 years
Distribution and license agreements, supply agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)											7 years	7 years
Entocort®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition	Dec. 15, 2015
Purchase price paid	$ 380,200
Entocort® | Minimum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life	10 years
Entocort® | Maximum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life	15 years
Naturwohl
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition		Sep. 15, 2015	Sep. 15, 2015
Purchase price paid			$ 150,400
Percentage of interest acquired		100.00%	100.00%
Naturwohl | Trademarks, trade names, and brands
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		20 years	20 years
Naturwohl | Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		15 years	15 years
Naturwohl | Non-compete agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		3 years	3 years
Naturwohl | Distribution and license agreements, supply agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life		3 years	3 years
Naturwohl | Euro
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price paid | €		€ 133.5
ScarAway®
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition				Aug. 28, 2015
Purchase price paid				$ 26,700
Business combination, number of products purchased | product				5
ScarAway® | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				8 years
ScarAway® | Trademarks, trade names, and brands
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				25 years
ScarAway® | Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				15 years
ScarAway® | Non-compete agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				4 years
GSK Products
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition				Aug. 28, 2015
Purchase price paid				$ 223,600
GSK Products | Trademarks, trade names, and brands
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				20 years
GSK Products | Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life				15 years
GSK Products | Euro
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price paid				$ 200,000
Gelcaps
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition					May 12, 2015
Purchase price paid					$ 37,900
Percentage of interest acquired					100.00%
Gelcaps | Inventories
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Adjustment, increase (decrease) in inventory								$ 600
Gelcaps | Property, Plant and Equipment
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Adjustment, increase (decrease) in property plant and equipment								(900)
Gelcaps | Trademarks, trade names, and brands
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life					25 years
Gelcaps | Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life					20 years
Omega
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition						Mar. 30, 2015
Purchase price paid						$ 2,983,200
Percentage of interest acquired						95.77%
Shares outstanding (in shares) | shares						685,348,257
Repurchases of common stock (in shares) | shares						30,243,983
Indemnification available from acquired company's sellers												$ 1,080
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)						20 years 7 months 6 days
Accounting adjustment to intangibles									$ 10,200
Omega | Inventories
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Adjustment, increase (decrease) in inventory								15,100
Omega | Property, Plant and Equipment
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Adjustment, increase (decrease) in property plant and equipment								$ 41,500
Omega | Long-term debt
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination fair value adjustment						$ 101,900
Omega | Trademarks, trade names, and brands
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						8 years
Omega | Customer relationships and distribution networks
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						21 years
Omega | Non-compete agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)											3 years	3 years
Omega | Non-solicit agreement
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Remaining Weighted-Average Useful Life (Years)											2 years	2 years
Omega | Brands
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						22 years
Omega | Minimum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						4 years
Omega | Maximum
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Indemnification available from acquired company's sellers											€ 120.9	$ 127,200
Omega | Maximum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life						13 years
Lumara
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition							Oct. 31, 2014
Purchase price paid							$ 83,000
Number of formulations | products							3
Lumara | Minimum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							8 years
Lumara | Maximum | Developed product technology, formulations, and product rights
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite lived assets, useful life							12 years
2014 bonds [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Senior notes															$ 1,600,000