BUSINESS COMBINATIONS (Details 8)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Sanitas EUR (€)	Aug. 31, 2011 Sanitas USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2011 Sanitas	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas USD ($) country product Y	Sep. 22, 2011 Sanitas	Sep. 15, 2011 Sanitas	Aug. 19, 2011 Sanitas USD ($)	Aug. 18, 2011 Sanitas USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Product brands Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Product rights Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Corporate brands Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Partner relationships Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Amounts Recognized as of Acquisition Date (as previously reported) USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Adjustments Measurement Period Adjustments USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Adjustments Measurement Period Adjustments Product brands USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Adjustments Measurement Period Adjustments Product rights USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Adjustments Measurement Period Adjustments Corporate brands USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Adjustments Measurement Period Adjustments Partner relationships USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Amounts Recognized (as adjusted) USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Amounts Recognized (as adjusted) Product brands USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Amounts Recognized (as adjusted) Product rights USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Amounts Recognized (as adjusted) Corporate brands USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Sanitas Amounts Recognized (as adjusted) Partner relationships USD ($)
Business Combinations
Additional outstanding common shares acquired, percentage				6.40%	6.40%	87.20%	4.80%
Additional cash consideration paid				$ 27,400,000		$ 392,300,000
Additional outstanding common shares acquired				1,968,631	1,968,631		1,502,432
Outstanding common shares acquired, percentage										98.40%	92.00%
Outstanding common shares acquired										30,593,656	28,625,025
Noncontrolling interest, percent									1.60%		8.00%	4.80%
Noncontrolling interest, fair value											34,800,000	21,100,000
Unrealized loss reclassified from other comprehensive income to earnings						200,000
Purchase price per share (in euros per share)					€ 10.06
Noncontrolling interest, number of shares									512,264
Amount due shareholders of acquiree	526,937,000	442,114,000						2,400,000
Number of products in product portfolio								390
Number of countries of operation								9
Assets acquired and liabilities assumed
Cash and cash equivalents																	5,607,000
Accounts receivable																	25,645,000
Inventories																	22,010,000
Other current assets																	3,166,000
Property, plant and equipment																	83,288,000
Identifiable intangible assets, excluding acquired IPR&D																	247,127,000		0	0	0	0	247,127,000	164,823,000	43,027,000	25,227,000	14,050,000
Acquired IPR&D																	747,000	0
Other non-current assets																	2,662,000
Current liabilities																	(30,428,000)
Long-term debt, including current portion																	(67,134,000)	0
Deferred income taxes, net																	(43,269,000)
Other non-current liabilities																	(6,049,000)
Total identifiable net assets																	243,372,000
Goodwill																	204,791,000
Total fair value of consideration transferred																	448,163,000
Fair value of trade accounts receivable acquired								25,600,000
Gross contractual amount of trade accounts receivable acquired								27,800,000
Expected uncollectible of trade accounts receivable acquired								2,200,000
Estimated weighted-average useful life (in years)								8					7	7	15	7
Acquisition-related costs	32,964,000	38,262,000	5,596,000					8,400,000
Acquisition-related integration and restructuring costs								7,100,000
Revenues of acquiree since acquisition date								49,600,000
Earnings of acquiree since acquisition date								(7,000,000)
Effects of the acquisition accounting adjustments								$ 16,300,000