4. Goodwill and other Purchased Intangible Assets Intangible Assets, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2009 Life Science [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Customer Relationships [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Customer Relationships [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Know how [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Know how [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Developed Technology Rights [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Developed Technology Rights [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Licensing Agreements [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Licensing Agreements [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Trade Names [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Trade Names [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Noncompete Agreements [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Noncompete Agreements [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Patents [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Patents [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Other Intangible Assets [Member] Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Other Intangible Assets [Member] Year	Oct. 04, 2011 QuantaLife [Member]	Oct. 04, 2011 QuantaLife [Member] Life Science [Member]	Oct. 04, 2011 QuantaLife [Member] Know how [Member]	Jan. 31, 2010 Biotest [Member] Customer Relationships [Member]	Jan. 31, 2010 Biotest [Member] Developed Technology Rights [Member]	Jan. 31, 2010 Biotest [Member] Trade Names [Member]	Jan. 31, 2010 Biotest [Member] Clinical Diagnostics [Member]
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill Amount																						$ 106,100,000					$ 12,800,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Gross	405,300,000	314,700,000			98,700,000	102,300,000	187,000,000	92,600,000	47,600,000	47,900,000	35,600,000	35,400,000	29,500,000	29,500,000	5,800,000	5,900,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	100,000	100,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Amortizable Intangible Assets																					94,700,000		94,700,000	7,500,000	9,500,000	4,200,000	21,200,000
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived				3,800,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year One	43,900,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Net [Abstract]
Purchase Price																					94,700,000		94,700,000	7,500,000	9,500,000	4,200,000	21,200,000
Accumulated Amortization	(145,800,000)	(110,800,000)			(30,900,000)	(24,800,000)	(45,700,000)	(33,000,000)	(24,600,000)	(19,200,000)	(15,700,000)	(12,200,000)	(22,100,000)	(15,900,000)	(5,700,000)	(4,600,000)	(1,000,000)	(1,000,000)	(100,000)	(100,000)
Net Carrying Amount	259,497,000	203,881,000			67,800,000	77,500,000	141,300,000	59,600,000	23,000,000	28,700,000	19,900,000	23,200,000	7,400,000	13,600,000	100,000	1,300,000	0	0	0	0
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Abstract]
Amortization expense	39,100,000	33,700,000	31,700,000
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Useful Life, Minimum					1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	1
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Useful Life, Maximum					12	13	14	6	11	11	9	10	10	12	7	8	0	0	0	1
Future Amortization Expense, Year Two	39,200,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Three	36,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Four	33,000,000
Future Amortization Expense, Year Five	$ 29,500,000