LONG-TERM DEBT (Details 2)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	May 31, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($) institution	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Secured Term Loan Facility maturing in December 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility due in December 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility due in December 2012 USD ($)	Jun. 29, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility due in December 2012 USD ($) Year	Jun. 29, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility due in December 2012 Federal funds rate	Jun. 29, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility due in December 2012 One-month adjusted LIBOR rate	Sep. 30, 2011 Term loan facility USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Term loan facility EURIBOR	Sep. 27, 2010 Old Revolving Credit Facility USD ($) Year	Mar. 31, 2011 Term Loan A Facility USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Term Loan A Facility USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Term Loan A Facility USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2010 Term Loan A Facility USD ($) Year	Sep. 27, 2010 Term Loan B Facility USD ($) Year	Mar. 31, 2011 6.50% Senior Notes due in July 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 6.50% Senior Notes due in July 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 7.25% Senior Notes due in July 2022 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 7.25% Senior Notes due in July 2022 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2011 6.75% Senior Notes due in August 2021 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 6.75% Senior Notes due in August 2021 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013	Jun. 30, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013	May 19, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2010 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013	Dec. 31, 2010 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas Term loan facility maturing May 2014 EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas Term loan facility maturing May 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas Term loan facility maturing May 2014 PLN	Sep. 30, 2011 Term loan facility maturing May 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas Term loan facility maturing May 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas Term loan facility maturing May 2012 PLN	Jun. 29, 2011 Base rate	Jun. 29, 2011 LIBOR	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 One-Month WIBOR
Long-term debt
Long-term debt		$ 5,226,911,000	$ 5,226,911,000	$ 3,595,277,000	$ 590,000,000	$ 200,000,000	$ 200,000,000				$ 45,312,000					$ 975,000				$ 950,000,000		$ 540,200,000		$ 650,000,000							$ 220,792,000
Maximum borrowing capacity					650,000,000			200,000,000			500,000,000		125,000,000				1,000,000,000	1,625,000,000															93,800,000	310,000,000		6,000,000	20,000,000
Principal amount borrowed						200,000,000	200,000,000																										45,300,000			4,900,000
Interest rate margin (as a percent)									0.50%	1.00%																												2.00%	3.00%		1.90%
Effective interest rate (as a percent)						3.22%	3.22%
Term of credit facility (in years)								1.5					4.5				5	6
Percentage of capital stock of the entity and domestic subsidiaries pledged as collateral for borrowings (as a percent)								100.00%
Percentage of capital stock of foreign subsidiaries pledged as collateral for borrowings (as a percent)								65.00%
Percentage of capital stock of the entity and each other subsidiary of the company (other than Valeant's subsidiaries) that is owned by a guarantor (as a percent)								100.00%
Numerator for leverage ratio, maximum						4.75
Denominator for leverage ratio, maximum						1.00
Liabilities assumed																																								67,100,000
Number of financial institutions providing credit facility			2
Term loan periodic payment including interest																																3,100,000
Variable rate basis												Three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate
Basis spread on Variable rate basis, if the leverage ratio is greater than 3 to 1												0.036%
Basis spread on LIBOR if the leverage ratio is less than 3 to 1 but greater than 2 to 1												0.03%
Basis spread on LIBOR if the leverage ratio decreases below 2 to 1												0.025%
Threshold Debt to EBITDA ratio for effective basis spread on EURIBOR to be 360, numerator												3.00
Threshold Debt to EBITDA ratio for effective basis spread on EURIBOR to be 360, denominator												1.00
Threshold Debt to EBITDA ratio for effective basis spread on EURIBOR to be 300, numerator												2.00
Threshold Debt to EBITDA ratio for effective basis spread on EURIBOR to be 300, denominator												1.00
Threshold Debt to EBITDA ratio for effective basis spread on EURIBOR to be 250, numerator												2.00
Threshold Debt to EBITDA ratio for effective basis spread on EURIBOR to be 250, denominator												1.00
Effective interest rate at the end of period (as a percent)												417.00%
Basis spread on variable rate (as a percent)									0.50%	1.00%																												2.00%	3.00%		1.90%
Effective interest rate during the period (as a percent)											6.86%
Minimum EBITDA to debt service ratio											1.20
Maximum debt to EBITDA ratio, numerator											3.00
Maximum debt to EBITDA ratio, denominator											1.00
Maximum EBITDA to interest ratio											2.00
Amount borrowed																			950,000,000		550,000,000		650,000,000					200,000,000
Interest rate on debt (as a percent)																				6.50%		7.25%		6.75%							4.00%
Issue price as a percentage of par value (as a percent)																					98.125%
Effective annual yield (as a percent)						4.00%	4.00%															7.50%
Percentage of commitment fee (as a percent)							0.75%
Prepayment of Term Loan with proceeds of Notes offering															975,000,000
Repurchase of common shares with proceeds of Notes offering	224,814,000	74,556,000	574,120,000											274,800,000
Redemption price, all or a portion of the Notes, as a percentage of the principal amount (as a percent)																				100.00%		100.00%		100.00%						100.00%
Maximum percentage of the aggregate principal amount that may be redeemed with the net proceeds of certain equity offerings (as a percent)																				35.00%		35.00%		35.00%
Redemption price, using proceeds from certain equity offerings, as a percentage of the principal amount (as a percent)																				106.50%		107.25%		106.75%
Repurchase price, as a percentage of the principal amount, change of control (as a percent)																				101.00%		101.00%		101.00%
Convertible Notes, number of shares converted into (in shares)																									961,461		17,782,764			7,518,595
Conversion rate, number of common shares per $1,000 of principal amount of notes (in shares)																											79.0667
Principal amount of notes used for conversion rate																											1,000
Conversion price of convertible notes (in dollars per share)																											$ 12.65
Carrying amount of notes prior to conversion																											221,400,000
Fair value of notes prior to conversion																											226,000,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt		(10,315,000)	(33,325,000)																										4,600,000
Difference between estimated fair value of notes and fair value of common shares issued upon settlement																											666,000,000
Charges to additional paid-in capital for difference between estimated fair value of notes and fair value of common shares issued upon settlement																											226,000,000
Charges to accumulated deficit for difference between estimated fair value of notes and fair value of common shares issued upon settlement																											440,000,000
Convertible notes, number of shares convertible into equity consisting of purchased call options (in shares)																												15,813,338
Convertible notes, number of shares convertible into equity consisting of written call options (in shares)																												15,813,338
Convertible notes, number of shares converted into equity consisting of purchased call options (in shares)																										11,479,365
Fair value of common shares issued for conversion			(892,000,000)																								892,000,000
Common shares issued																									961,461		17,782,764			7,518,595
Cash paid to settle options																																			$ 66,900,000