DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Feb. 22, 2012 Class A [Member]	Feb. 22, 2012 Class B [Member]
Document And Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2011
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Registration Name	Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation
Entity Central Index Key	0000859368
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Well Knows Season Issuer	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 2,092,313,017
Entity Common Stock Shares Outstanding			58,916,819	0
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY