SEGMENT INFORMATION (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended							3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 segment	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011 PharmaSwiss S.A.	Mar. 31, 2012 Gerot Lannach	Mar. 31, 2012 Probiotica	Mar. 31, 2012 U.S. Dermatology	Mar. 31, 2011 U.S. Dermatology	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Dermatology	Mar. 31, 2012 U.S. Dermatology Dermik	Mar. 31, 2012 U.S. Dermatology Ortho Dermatologics	Mar. 31, 2012 U.S. Dermatology Dermik and Ortho Dermatologics Elidel and Xerese	Mar. 31, 2012 U.S. Neurology and Other	Mar. 31, 2011 U.S. Neurology and Other	Dec. 31, 2011 U.S. Neurology and Other	Mar. 31, 2012 Canada and Australia	Mar. 31, 2011 Canada and Australia	Dec. 31, 2011 Canada and Australia	Mar. 31, 2012 Canada and Australia Dermik	Mar. 31, 2012 Canada and Australia iNova	Mar. 31, 2012 Canada and Australia Afexa	Mar. 31, 2012 Canada and Australia iNova, Dermik and Afexa	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets	Mar. 31, 2011 Emerging Markets	Dec. 31, 2011 Emerging Markets	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets iNova	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets PharmaSwiss S.A.	Mar. 31, 2011 Emerging Markets PharmaSwiss S.A.	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets Sanitas	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets Gerot Lannach	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets Probiotica	Mar. 31, 2012 Emerging Markets PharmaSwiss, Sanitas, iNova, Probiotica, Dermik and Gerot Lannach	Mar. 31, 2012 Total Segment	Mar. 31, 2011 Total Segment	Dec. 31, 2011 Total Segment	Mar. 31, 2012 Corporate	Mar. 31, 2011 Corporate	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate
SEGMENT INFORMATION
Number of new countries in which entity operates	5
Number of reportable segments	4
Segment reporting information
Revenues	$ 856,103,000	$ 565,026,000					$ 292,217,000	$ 154,191,000				$ 96,000,000	$ 187,708,000	$ 208,115,000		$ 132,569,000	$ 70,244,000					$ 50,300,000	$ 243,609,000	$ 132,476,000				$ 16,200,000				$ 128,900,000
Segment profit (loss)							88,026,000	34,576,000					52,558,000	99,741,000		14,917,000	20,922,000						23,189,000	(559,000)									178,690,000	154,680,000		(34,358,000)	(58,105,000)
Restructuring, integration and other costs	(62,337,000)	(17,539,000)
Acquired IPR&D		(2,000,000)
Acquisition-related costs	(7,505,000)	(1,507,000)			(500,000)	(600,000)
Legal settlements	(3,155,000)	(400,000)
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	(9,839,000)	(386,000)
Operating income	61,496,000	74,743,000
Interest income	1,123,000	803,000
Interest expense	(102,025,000)	(68,751,000)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	(133,000)	(8,262,000)
Foreign exchange and other	24,299,000	2,807,000		2,700,000
Gain on investments, net	2,059,000	1,769,000
(Loss) income before recovery of income taxes	(13,181,000)	3,109,000
Acquisition accounting adjustment, fair value adjustment to inventory										5,700,000	3,300,000								10,000,000	11,100,000	2,400,000
Acquisition accounting adjustment, fair value adjustment to inventory and identifiable intangible assets																												5,100,000
Acquisition accounting adjustment, fair value adjustment to identifiable intangible assets										10,400,000	9,800,000								2,400,000	8,300,000	1,700,000					6,300,000	7,600,000		7,600,000
Stock-based compensation expense	19,152,000	29,893,000																																		19,200,000	29,700,000
Total assets	13,619,734,000		13,141,713,000				3,041,252,000		3,077,119,000				4,271,010,000		4,436,463,000	1,626,030,000		1,611,999,000					3,879,790,000		3,349,821,000								12,818,082,000		12,475,402,000	801,652,000		666,311,000
Identifiable intangible assets	7,808,814,000		7,657,798,000																											169,300,000	37,900,000
Goodwill	$ 3,730,279,000		$ 3,598,786,000				$ 493,130,000		$ 491,651,000				$ 1,542,203,000		$ 1,542,203,000	$ 521,115,000		$ 498,198,000					$ 1,173,831,000		$ 1,066,734,000					$ 9,700,000	$ 45,100,000