BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Jul. 27, 2016	Dec. 19, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Adjustments to intangibles through amortization expense	$ 4.5	$ 3.0	$ 4.9
Long-term debt, less current portion	$ 6,041.9	$ 6,344.6
Business Acquisition, Share Price						$ 2.40
Proforma consolidated diluted earnings per share	$ 11,650,000	$ 6,750,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, Basic	$ 11,800,000	$ 6,860,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Net Income (Loss)	$ 1,209.0	$ 703.8
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Net of Tax	1,305.6	1,300.5
Proforma consolidated net revenue	$ 10,831.3	10,387.4
Total acquisition consideration (cash and non-cash)				$ 1,224.5		$ 249.1
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net				1,224.5
Business Combination, Separately Recognized Transactions, Liabilities Recognized				397.3
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities, Other				2.4
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Deferred Tax Liabilities Noncurrent				196.5
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities, Deferred Revenue				133.7
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities				19.6
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities, Accounts Payable				45.1
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Assets				1,621.8
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired, Goodwill, and Liabilities Assumed, Net				745.4
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Property, Plant, and Equipment				12.1
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Prepaid Expense and Other Assets				57.9
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets				32.6
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Receivables				103.6
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Cash and Equivalents				30.7
Business combination, recognized identifiable intangible assets acquired				0.9
Weighted-average useful lives of identifiable intangible assets	17 years 1 month
Goodwill, net	$ 7,360.3	7,400.9	6,424.4
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	117.8	1,882.6	548.6
Finite-lived Intangible Assets Acquired	67.8
Goodwill, Acquired During Period	70.5	1,009.8
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity							$ 1,000.0
Senior notes due 2020 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Long-term debt, less current portion	600.0	600.0
Chiltern [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Proforma consolidated net income		11.6
Proforma consolidated net revenue		$ 188.4
Sequenom acquisition [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful lives of identifiable intangible assets		14 years 7 months
Business combination, recognized identifiable deferred tax liabilities assumed		$ 45.1
Finite-lived Intangible Assets Acquired		146.6
Goodwill, Acquired During Period		206.0
Excluding Covance [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	688.8	299.5
Finite-lived Intangible Assets Acquired	1,053.0	126.2
Goodwill, Acquired During Period	$ 1,009.8	192.3
Acquisitions excluding LipoScience [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired			$ 548.6
Software and Software Development Costs [Member] | Chiltern [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful lives of identifiable intangible assets	6 years
Technology-Based Intangible Assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, recognized identifiable intangible assets acquired				26.0
Trademarks and Trade Names [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, recognized identifiable intangible assets acquired				10.6
Trademarks and Trade Names [Member] | Chiltern [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful lives of identifiable intangible assets	4 years
Trade Names [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted-average useful lives of identifiable intangible assets	5 years
Finite-lived Intangible Assets Acquired	$ 3.4
Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Useful Life	21 years
Business combination, recognized identifiable intangible assets acquired				$ 602.0
Weighted-average useful lives of identifiable intangible assets	18 years 2 months
Finite-lived Intangible Assets Acquired	$ 62.2
Senior notes due 2018 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Long-term debt, less current portion					$ 130.0
Nutritional Chemistry [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill, net		$ 170.5