2. Acquisitions (Details)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended					12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2011 DiaMed Spain [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2011 DiaMed Spain [Member] EUR (€)	Oct. 04, 2011 QuantaLife [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2010 Biotest [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2010 Biotest [Member] EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2010 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2010 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2009 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2008 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2008 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2007 DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 DiaMed Thailand [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 DiaMed Thailand [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 DiaMed France [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 DiaMed France [Member] EUR (€)	Oct. 04, 2011 Life Science [Member] QuantaLife [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2010 Clinical Diagnostics [Member] Biotest [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Noncontrolling Interest [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Noncontrolling Interest [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Noncontrolling Interest [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2008 Clinical Diagnostics [Member] DiaMed Holding [Member] USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Fair Value				$ (1,000,000)					$ (14,900,000)								$ 800,000	$ 1,200,000
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired				39.00%						100.00%	1.00%	6.00%	4.00%	3.00%	86.00%
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid				3,400,000	2,500,000	150,300,000	64,900,000	45,000,000		464,300,000	1,400,000	30,000,000	19,600,000	14,000,000	399,300,000	200,000	200,000	12,900,000	10,200,000
Business acquisition, cost of acquired entity, purchase price						179,400,000
Business Acquisition, purchase price holdback consideration						5,000,000
Business Acquisition, Contingent Consideration, Potential Cash Payment						48,000,000												1,700,000	1,300,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Net Tangible Assets						(21,400,000)	(30,900,000)						(38,100,000)
Business Acquisition, Contingent Consideration, at Fair Value	24,100,000					24,100,000
Goodwill																				106,100,000	12,800,000				202,000,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross						94,700,000							192,800,000								21,200,000
Noncontrolling Interest, Decrease from Redemptions or Purchase of Interests	$ 3,588,000	$ 16,661,000	$ 28,611,000	$ 2,400,000												$ 1,000,000						$ 3,367,000	$ 17,111,000	$ 14,588,000
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent				90.00%