SEGMENT INFORMATION (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") U.S. Neurology and Other	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") U.S. Neurology and Other	Sep. 30, 2011 U.S. Neurology and Other	Sep. 30, 2010 U.S. Neurology and Other	Sep. 30, 2011 U.S. Neurology and Other	Sep. 30, 2010 U.S. Neurology and Other	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2011 Product brands Zovirax U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2011 U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2010 U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2011 U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2010 U.S. Dermatology	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Canada and Australia	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Canada and Australia	Sep. 30, 2011 Canada and Australia	Sep. 30, 2010 Canada and Australia	Sep. 30, 2011 Canada and Australia	Sep. 30, 2010 Canada and Australia	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A. Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2010 Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2010 Branded Generics - Europe	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Branded Generics - Latin America	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Branded Generics - Latin America	Sep. 30, 2011 Branded Generics - Latin America	Sep. 30, 2010 Branded Generics - Latin America	Sep. 30, 2011 Branded Generics - Latin America	Sep. 30, 2010 Branded Generics - Latin America	Sep. 30, 2011 Corporate	Sep. 30, 2010 Corporate	Sep. 30, 2011 Corporate	Sep. 30, 2010 Corporate	Sep. 30, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Meda Pharma SARL ("Meda")	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas
Segment reporting information
Revenues	$ 600,584,000	$ 208,267,000	$ 1,774,997,000	$ 666,673,000		$ 51,800,000	$ 174,000,000	$ 182,288,000	$ 138,034,000	$ 626,390,000	$ 445,413,000	$ 63,500,000	$ 200,800,000		$ 131,642,000	$ 34,720,000	$ 394,202,000	$ 115,112,000	$ 48,100,000	$ 139,500,000	$ 84,644,000	$ 27,750,000	$ 238,888,000	$ 81,146,000	$ 47,200,000	$ 142,800,000	$ 59,700,000	$ 141,300,000	$ 17,000,000	$ 134,055,000	$ 7,763,000	$ 326,448,000	$ 25,002,000	$ 68,000,000	$ 189,100,000	$ 67,955,000		$ 189,069,000
Segment profit (loss)	183,000,000	71,839,000	539,516,000	276,897,000				82,289,000	46,582,000	319,547,000	186,311,000				54,148,000	11,174,000	127,894,000	43,076,000			27,132,000	10,289,000	77,731,000	31,424,000						11,666,000	4,127,000	10,377,000	16,419,000			7,765,000	(333,000)	3,967,000	(333,000)
Corporate	(38,366,000)	(35,698,000)	(144,594,000)	(103,261,000)
Restructuring and other costs	(15,874,000)	(95,916,000)	(61,039,000)	(99,410,000)
Acquired IPR&D			(4,000,000)	(61,245,000)
Acquisition-related costs	(9,498,000)	(28,037,000)	(12,874,000)	(35,614,000)																																								(600,000)
Legal settlements		(38,500,000)	(2,400,000)	(38,500,000)
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	(6,904,000)		(9,042,000)
Operating income	112,358,000	(126,312,000)	305,567,000	(61,133,000)
Interest income	1,052,000	126,000	2,941,000	548,000
Interest expense	(87,504,000)	(11,218,000)	(239,328,000)	(30,997,000)
Write-down of deferred financing charges		5,774,000		5,774,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(10,315,000)		(33,325,000)
Foreign exchange and other	(3,590,000)	301,000	64,000	345,000
(Loss) gain on investments, net	(140,000)	(5,005,000)	22,787,000	(5,552,000)
Income (loss) before (recovery of) provision for income taxes	11,861,000	(147,882,000)	58,706,000	(102,563,000)
Segment profit (loss) impact of acquisition						11,500,000	30,500,000					6,400,000	42,800,000						7,300,000	25,700,000					6,700,000	23,700,000	5,900,000	39,000,000	10,300,000					10,600,000	38,500,000
Share-based compensation expense	17,587,000	68,284,000	73,038,000	71,836,000																																				17,100,000	22,600,000	72,400,000	26,200,000
Assets	11,818,361,000		11,818,361,000		10,795,117,000
Increase in total assets			1,023,200,000
Percentage increase in total assets (as a percent)			9.00%
Identifiable intangible assets	5,393,592,000		5,393,592,000		4,972,824,000									300,000,000	439,900,000		439,900,000
Acquired assets																											574,100,000	574,100,000																	595,000,000
Amortization of identifiable intangible assets	138,027,000	35,499,000	365,016,000	102,098,000						142,800,000							101,700,000															50,400,000
Foreign currency translation adjustment of related to goodwill			$ (110,536,000)																				$ (22,130,000)									$ (40,429,000)						$ (47,977,000)