Business and Basis of Presentation	9 Months Ended
Business and Basis of Presentation	Sep. 30, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Business and Basis of Presentation	Business and Basis of Presentation Business: Akorn, Inc., together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively “Akorn,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us”) is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets generic and branded prescription pharmaceuticals, branded as well as private-label over-the-counter consumer health products and animal health pharmaceuticals. We are an industry leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of specialized generic pharmaceutical products in alternative dosage forms. We focus on difficult-to-manufacture sterile and non-sterile dosage forms including, but not limited to, ophthalmics, injectables, oral liquids, otics, topicals, inhalants and nasal sprays. In previous years, the Company completed numerous mergers, acquisitions and product acquisitions which resulted in significant growth. Akorn, Inc. is a Louisiana corporation founded in 1971 in Abita Springs, Louisiana. In 1997, we relocated our corporate headquarters to the Chicago, Illinois area and currently maintain our principal corporate offices in Lake Forest, Illinois. We have pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Decatur, Illinois; Somerset, New Jersey; Amityville, New York; Hettlingen, Switzerland; and Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, India. We operate a central distribution warehouse in Gurnee, Illinois and additional distribution facilities in Amityville, New York and Decatur, Illinois. Our research and development (“R&D”) centers are located in Vernon Hills, Illinois and Cranbury, New Jersey. We maintain other corporate offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Gurgaon, Haryana, India. During the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company reported results for two reportable segments: Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health. For further detail concerning our reportable segments please see Part I, Item 1, Note 10 - “Segment Information.” Our common shares are traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol AKRX. Our principal corporate office is located at 1925 West Field Court Suite 300, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045, with telephone number (847) 279-6100. Terminated Merger Agreement: On April 24, 2017, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Fresenius Kabi AG, a German stock corporation (“Parent”), Quercus Acquisition, Inc., a Louisiana corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”) and, solely for purposes of Article VIII thereof, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, a German partnership limited by shares, which Merger Agreement subsequently resulted in litigation following Parent’s purported termination of the Merger Agreement. For a more detailed description of the litigation, please see Part I, Item 1, Note 12 - “Commitments and Contingencies-Litigation Related to the Terminated Merger.” Basis of Presentation: The Company’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") for interim financial information and accordingly do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for annual financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments of a normal and recurring nature considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included in these financial statements. Operating results for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2019, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes for the year ended December 31, 2018, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2019.