ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITION (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Product brands	Dec. 31, 2010 Product brands	Dec. 31, 2011 Product rights	Dec. 31, 2010 Product rights	Mar. 31, 2011 Cloderm Cream	Mar. 31, 2011 Zovirax	Dec. 31, 2011 Zovirax Y	Oct. 31, 2011 Lodalis	Jun. 30, 2011 Lodalis	Nov. 30, 2010 Ribavirin	Dec. 31, 2011 Ribavirin Product rights Y	Nov. 30, 2010 Taribavirin	Dec. 31, 2011 Taribavirin Minimum	Dec. 31, 2011 Taribavirin Maximum	Oct. 31, 2010 Hamilton Brands	Oct. 29, 2010 Hamilton Brands	Dec. 31, 2011 Hamilton Brands Trademarks Y	Jun. 30, 2010 Istradefylline	Jun. 30, 2010 Istradefylline	Mar. 31, 2011 Ampakin	Mar. 31, 2010 Ampakin	Mar. 31, 2010 Ampakin	Feb. 28, 2010 Staccato Loxapine	Mar. 31, 2010 Staccato Loxapine	Dec. 31, 2009 GDNF	Dec. 31, 2009 GDNF	Dec. 31, 2009 Fipamezole	Dec. 31, 2009 Fipamezole	May 31, 2009 Wellbutrin XL Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Wellbutrin XL Y	May 14, 2009 Wellbutrin XL	May 31, 2009 Pimavanserin	Jun. 30, 2009 Pimavanserin	Dec. 31, 2011 Clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide gel ("IDP-111")	Dec. 31, 2011 Fluorouracil cream ("5-FU")
Asset acquisitions and disposition
Impairment charges																																					$ 7,900,000	$ 19,800,000
Adjusted carrying value of intangible assets	7,126,446,000	4,972,824,000		5,704,495,000	3,822,514,000	995,812,000	795,336,000																														54,400,000	14,800,000
Amount (received) paid	327,437,000	84,532,000	761,829,000					(36,000,000)	300,000,000		5,000,000	2,000,000						14,700,000			10,000,000			10,000,000		40,000,000		6,000,000			12,000,000	510,000,000			30,000,000
Upfront payment received for exclusive license															5,000,000
Term of distribution agreement (in years)										20 years
Estimated weighted-average useful life (in years)										11																						10	10
Unamortized carrying value of product rights intangible asset	8,236,436,000	5,677,083,000		6,442,371,000	4,227,465,000	1,302,748,000	1,074,611,000	30,700,000		91,400,000
Fair value of product rights intangible asset								31,800,000
Payment for exclusive rights of certain dosage forms													7,500,000
Useful life of intangible asset (in years)														10						10
Purchase price allocated to trademark intangible asset																			(11,700,000)
Purchase price allocated to inventory																			(3,000,000)
Royalty payments on net commercial sales of products (as a percent)																8.00%	12.00%
Acquisition costs charged to acquired IPR&D expense																						200,000			700,000		300,000		2,900,000	100,000						400,000
Upfront payment received for sale of IPR&D																							200,000
Acquisition costs allocated to the trademark intangible assets																																500,000
Acquired finished goods inventory																																		$ 10,500,000