BUSINESS COMBINATIONS (Details 12) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Oct. 02, 2012 Term Loan B Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan B Facility	Dec. 31, 2010 Term Loan B Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 6.75% Senior Notes due in October 2017	Dec. 31, 2011 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Dec. 31, 2012 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Jun. 30, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Dec. 31, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Dec. 31, 2010 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant")	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Term Loan A Facility	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Term Loan B Facility	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Term Loan B Facility	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 6.75% Senior Notes due in October 2017	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 6.75% Senior Notes due in October 2017	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013 Convertible notes, call options purchased item	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013 Convertible notes, call options written item	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013 Convertible notes, call options written	Aug. 31, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013 Convertible notes, call options written	Sep. 30, 2012 Princeton Pharma Holdings LLC	Dec. 31, 2011 Princeton Pharma Holdings LLC	May 26, 2010 Princeton Pharma Holdings LLC
Business Combinations
Principal amount of senior notes issued				$ 1,300,000,000			$ 500,000,000		$ 700,000,000		$ 200,000,000							$ 500,000,000		$ 700,000,000
Debt, stated rate (as a percent)							6.75%		7.00%			4.00%	4.00%						6.75%		7.00%	4.00%				3.00%
Payment of term loan								10,000,000								1,000,000,000
Long-term debt assumed														2,913,614,000	1,000,000,000		500,000,000		497,500,000		695,625,000	220,489,000
Deferred income tax assets, current														68,500,000
Deferred income tax assets, noncurrent														4,300,000
Deferred income tax liabilities, current														6,500,000
Deferred income tax liabilities, noncurrent														1,376,300,000
Fair value of contingent payments																													21,600,000
Reduction in undiscounted amounts that the Company could be obligated to pay as contingent consideration																											190,000,000
Undiscounted amounts that the Company could be obligated to pay as contingent consideration, maximum																											200,000,000	390,000,000
Total gross maturities	11,148,521,000																					200,000,000
Call option agreement, Number of call options purchased																							15,813,338	3,863,670
Number of business days in which written call options were settled																								30 days
Written call options settled for cash, fair value reclassified as liability																									32,800,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt	$ (20,080,000)	$ (36,844,000)	$ (32,413,000)		$ (17,625,000)	$ (1,697,000)				$ (4,700,000)		$ (4,708,000)												$ (10,100,000)