DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Nov. 05, 2012 Class A	Nov. 05, 2012 Class B
Document And Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2012
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		$ 1,741,307,794
Entity Common Stock Shares Outstanding			58,393,411	0
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3