Contingencies (Details)	0 Months Ended							6 Months Ended						6 Months Ended						6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Apr. 16, 2012 D	Feb. 10, 2012 USD ($)	May 24, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 USD ($) counties	Jun. 19, 2012 USD ($)	May 29, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Lorazepam And Clorazepate USD ($)	May 30, 2012 Lorazepam And Clorazepate USD ($)	Feb. 06, 2008 Lorazepam And Clorazepate USD ($) plantiffs	Jun. 01, 2005 Lorazepam And Clorazepate USD ($) drugs	May 16, 2005 Lorazepam And Clorazepate insurers	Dec. 31, 2001 Lorazepam And Clorazepate insurers	Jun. 30, 2012 Pricing And Medicaid Litigation USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Pricing And Medicaid Litigation USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Mylan Specialty USD ($)	Apr. 27, 2006 Modafinil Antitrust Litigation and FTC Inquiry [Member] other_drug_manufacturers	Apr. 11, 2012 Digitek Recall plantiffs	Apr. 25, 2008 Digitek Recall	Jun. 30, 2012 EU Commission Proceedings	Jun. 30, 2012 Product Liabilities USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Product Liabilities USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Product Liabilities USD ($)	Apr. 28, 2011 Other Litigation USD ($)	Apr. 28, 2011 Other Litigation EUR (€)	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Litigation
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Collective Bargaining Agreement Term	5 years
Accrued amount for settlement by Mylan											$ 12,000,000			$ 55,000,000	$ 115,000,000								$ 41,000,000
Number of drugs found to be in violation of antitrust laws											2
Number of health insurers who brought on the antitrust claims													4
Number of insurers dismissed due to filed motion by the Company following verdict												2
Judgment amount										69,000,000
Number of plaintiffs in which judgement issued reflects trebling of the compensatory damages										3
Compensation damages in original verdict										11,000,000
Compensatory damages in original verdict plus punitive damages										58,000,000
Surety bond underwritten by third-party insurance company								74,500,000	66,600,000
Approximate number of counties in New York State involved in the civil lawsuit				40
Settlement payments														82,000,000							18,200,000	15,000,000
Loss Contingency Accrual, Carrying Value, Period Increase (Decrease)														20,000,000
Other current liabilities				922,180,000			996,158,000									67,900,000
Number of other drug manufactures named as defendants in the civil lawsuit																	4
Damages sought																								24,000,000	17,000,000
Reimbursements sought								8,000,000
Voluntary remittitur from plaintiffs					8,100,000
Number of plaintiffs to opt out of settlement																		4
Number of companies involved in inquiry																				100
Number of cases pending																			1,000
Damages awarded		18,000,000
DamagesAwardReversed						18,000,000
Plantiff bond payment			10,000,000
Injunction period post mandate, days	45
Amount of times damages may be increased in cases of willful infringement																										3
Multiemployer Plans, Withdrawal Obligation				$ 8,400,000