Document And Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Apr. 28, 2017
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	AKORN INC
Document Type	10-Q
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		124,555,268
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000003116
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1