Legal Matters (Details) (Federal securities class action lawsuit)	Nov. 30, 2010 person
Federal securities class action lawsuit
Securities Related Class Action Lawsuits
Loss contingency, number of officers, defendants in lawsuit	2

Represents the number of officers those are defendants in a putative class action lawsuit with the entity.

No definition available.

Name:	vvus_LossContingencyNumberOfOfficersDefendants
Namespace Prefix:	vvus_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant