BUSINESS COMBINATIONS (Details 3) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Sep. 27, 2010 Old Revolving Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2010 Term Loan A Facility	Sep. 27, 2010 Term Loan A Facility	Dec. 31, 2010 Term Loan B Facility	Sep. 27, 2010 Term Loan B Facility	Dec. 31, 2011 6.75% Senior Notes due in October 2017	Dec. 31, 2010 6.75% Senior Notes due in October 2017	Dec. 31, 2011 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Dec. 31, 2011 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Dec. 31, 2010 7.00% Senior Notes due in October 2020	Sep. 30, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Apr. 30, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	May 31, 2010 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Dec. 31, 2011 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Jun. 30, 2011 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 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	May 20, 2010 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Dec. 31, 2009 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant")	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant")	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") Old Revolving Credit Facility	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	May 31, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	Apr. 30, 2011 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	Dec. 31, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	May 19, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013	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 option	Sep. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013 Convertible notes, call options written option	Nov. 30, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 4.00% Convertible Notes due in November, 2013 Convertible notes, call options written	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. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 8.375% and 7.625% senior unsecured notes	Dec. 31, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 8.375% senior unsecured notes	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 8.375% senior unsecured notes	Dec. 31, 2011 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 7.625% senior unsecured notes	Sep. 28, 2010 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International ("Valeant") 7.625% senior unsecured notes	Dec. 31, 2011 Princeton Pharma Holdings LLC	May 26, 2010 Princeton Pharma Holdings LLC	Dec. 31, 2011 Aton Pharma, Inc. ("Aton") Asset related to A002 program
Business Combinations
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity				$ 125,000,000		$ 1,000,000,000		$ 1,625,000,000																		$ 125,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000		$ 1,625,000,000
Debt, stated rate (as a percent)									6.75%	6.75%	7.00%	7.00%	7.00%				4.00%		4.00%	4.00%			4.00%								6.75%		7.00%				4.00%		4.00%			3.00%		3.00%		8.375%	8.375%	7.625%	7.625%
Percentage of amount deposited with trustees for funding defeasance																																													100.00%
Principal amount of senior notes issued									500,000,000			700,000,000							200,000,000											500,000,000		700,000,000
Payment of term loan											10,000,000																	1,000,000,000
Debt issuance costs incurred																								118,400,000
Outstanding principal amount of notes	6,651,011,000	3,595,277,000			975,000,000				497,949,000	497,589,000	686,228,000	686,228,000	695,735,000							220,792,000																			225,000,000
Fair value of convertible notes																					220,500,000																		446,500,000
Fair value of convertible notes allocated to liability component																																							220,500,000
Fair value of equity component recorded as additional paid-in capital		253,971,000	53,995,000																																	226,000,000
Redemption price, all or a portion of the Notes, as a percentage of the principal amount									100.00%			100.00%							100.00%																100.00%
Settlement of 4% Convertible Notes (in shares)														7,518,595	17,782,764		961,461																		17,782,764
Conversion rate, number of common shares per $1,000 of principal amount of notes																79.0667																		79.0667
Principal amount of notes used for conversion rate																						1,000																1,000
Conversion price of convertible notes (in dollars per share)																						$ 12.65																$ 12.65
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
Undiscounted amounts that the Company could be obligated to pay as contingent consideration, minimum																																																		0
Undiscounted amounts that the Company could be obligated to pay as contingent consideration, maximum																																																		390,000,000
Impairment and other charges		11,603,000	24,937,000																																																	16,300,000
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	(10,986,000)																																																			9,400,000
Total gross maturities	6,713,788,000																																						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	(36,844,000)	(32,413,000)					(1,697,000)											(4,700,000)	(4,708,000)																						(10,100,000)
Acquisition-related costs	$ 32,964,000	$ 38,262,000	$ 5,596,000																					$ 38,300,000