BUSINESS COMBINATIONS (Details)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended																									1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended										1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2010 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2010 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant")	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Product brands USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Corporate brands USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Product rights USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Out-licensed technology and other USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Ezogabine/retigabine USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Dermatology products USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Other USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments Product brands USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments Corporate brands USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments Product rights USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments Out-licensed technology and other USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments Dermatology products USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Measurement Period Adjustments Other USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Product brands USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Corporate brands USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Product rights USD ($)	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Out-licensed technology and other USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Ezogabine/retigabine USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Dermatology products USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) Other USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Product brands	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Corporate brands	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Product rights	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Out-licensed technology and other	Jun. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Meda Pharma SARL ("Meda") USD ($)	Jun. 29, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Meda Pharma SARL ("Meda") USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A.	Mar. 10, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. USD ($)	Mar. 10, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. EUR (€)	Mar. 10, 2010 PharmaSwiss S.A. USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) USD ($)	Mar. 10, 2010 PharmaSwiss S.A. Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Product brands USD ($)	Mar. 10, 2010 PharmaSwiss S.A. Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) Partner relationships USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Measurement Period Adjustments USD ($)	Mar. 10, 2010 PharmaSwiss S.A. Measurement Period Adjustments Product brands USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Amounts Recognized as of June 30, 2011 (as adjusted) USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Product brands	Mar. 10, 2010 PharmaSwiss S.A. Product brands USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Partner relationships	Mar. 10, 2010 PharmaSwiss S.A. Partner relationships USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Foreign currency forward-exchange contracts USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Foreign currency forward-exchange contracts EUR (€)	Feb. 28, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Foreign currency forward-exchange contracts EUR (€)	Jun. 30, 2011 Other, Other USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Elidel and Xerese USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Ganehill Pty Limited ("Ganehill") USD ($)
Business Combinations
Right to receive converted common shares ratio						1.7809
Fair value of consideration transferred as of merger date							$ 3,900,000,000
Period after which company expects to finalize recognized amounts																																					1
Assets acquired and liabilities assumed
Cash and cash equivalents								348,637,000															348,637,000																				43,940,000					43,940,000
Accounts receivable								194,930,000															194,930,000																				63,509,000			(1,880,000)		61,629,000
Inventories								208,874,000															208,874,000																				72,144,000			(1,410,000)		70,734,000
Other current assets								30,869,000															30,869,000																				14,429,000					14,429,000
Property, plant and equipment								184,757,000															184,757,000																				9,737,000					9,737,000
Identifiable intangible assets, excluding acquired IPR&D								3,844,310,000	3,114,689,000	168,602,000	360,970,000	200,049,000				(224,939,000)	(190,779,000)	98,000	(52,949,000)	18,691,000			3,619,371,000	2,923,910,000	168,700,000	308,021,000	218,740,000																202,071,000	71,888,000	130,183,000	7,169,000	7,169,000	209,240,000		79,057,000		130,183,000				6,400,000	406,400,000	12,700,000
Acquired IPR&D								1,404,956,000					891,461,000	431,323,000	82,172,000	(4,195,000)					(3,100,000)	(1,095,000)	1,400,761,000					891,461,000	428,223,000	81,077,000																											33,500,000
Other non-current assets								6,108,000															6,108,000																				3,122,000					3,122,000
Current liabilities								(385,574,000)								874,000							(384,700,000)																				(46,866,000)					(46,866,000)
Long-term debt, including current portion								(2,913,614,000)															(2,913,614,000)
Deferred income taxes, net								(1,467,791,000)								157,816,000							(1,309,975,000)																				(18,176,000)			(518,000)		(18,694,000)									(2,200,000)
Other non-current liabilities								(149,307,000)								(46,022,000)							(195,329,000)																				(720,000)					(720,000)
Total identifiable net assets								1,307,155,000								(116,466,000)							1,190,689,000																				343,190,000			3,361,000		346,551,000
Equity component of convertible debt								(225,971,000)															(225,971,000)
Call option agreements								(28,000,000)															(28,000,000)
Goodwill								2,878,856,000								116,466,000							2,995,322,000																				171,105,000			1,052,000		172,157,000										5,400,000
Total fair value of consideration transferred								3,932,040,000															3,932,040,000																				514,295,000			4,413,000		518,708,000										19,400,000
Estimated weighted-average useful life (in years)						15																									16	20	9	7	8		7												9		7
Fair value of trade accounts receivable acquired																																										61,600,000
Gross contractual amount of trade accounts receivable acquired																																										66,800,000
Expected uncollectible of trade accounts receivable acquired																																										5,200,000
Estimated fair value of inventory																																										18,200,000
Cash paid																																								491,200,000	353,100,000
Maximum contingent payment																																								41,700,000	30,000,000
Fair value of contingent payments																																								27,500,000
Notional amount of foreign currency forward-exchange contract purchased																																																							130,000,000
Gain on settlement of foreign currency forward-exchange contract																																																					5,100,000
Foreign exchange loss recognized on amount bought to finance business acquisition																																																					2,400,000
Remaining foreign currency consideration used to finance transaction of business combination																																																						220,000,000
Net foreign exchange gain recognized in earnings		847,000	667,000	3,654,000	44,000																																																2,700,000
Number of areas of operation																																							7
Number of countries in which entity operates																																						19	19
Acquisition-related costs		1,869,000	7,577,000	3,376,000	7,577,000																														600,000		1,400,000
Revenues of acquiree since acquisition date																																						81,600,000
Earnings of acquiree since acquisition date																																						10,800,000
Upfront payment																																				76,000,000
Series of potential milestones to be paid																																			16,000,000
Series of potential royalties to be paid																																			120,000,000
Amount of minimum royalty to be paid																																			120,000,000
Fair value of upfront and contingent consideration																																				437,700,000
Pro forma of consolidated results of operations
Revenues		609,387,000	546,421,000	1,217,485,000	1,051,535,000
Net income (loss)		71,410,000	(6,464,000)	98,757,000	(49,490,000)
Basic earnings (loss) per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.24	$ (0.02)	$ 0.33	$ (0.17)
Diluted earnings (loss) per share (in dollars per share)		$ 0.22	$ (0.02)	$ 0.30	$ (0.17)
Pro forma acquisition-related costs	1,400,000
Pro forma acquisition accounting adjustment on inventory sold subsequent to acquisition date		$ 15,300,000		$ 18,800,000