| **Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions**                                            |          |        |         |         | 1 Months Ended | 3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | 18 Months Ended |         |        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|--------|---------|---------|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|---------|--------|
||
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Number of operating segments | Operating_Segment                                                                                                                               |     |   |    |    |           |           | 3               | 2               |    |   |   |   |
| Number of accounting standards adopted | Accounting_standard                                                                                                                   |     |   | 4       |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Cash payments for acquisition, net of cash acquired                                                                                                                            |     |   |    |    |           |           | $ 10,861        | $ 0             | $ 1,000 |   |   |   |
| ROU assets                                                                                                                                                                     |     |   |    |    |           | $ 1,313        | 1,313           |            |    |   |   |   |
| Lease liabilities (long-term)                                                                                                                                                  |     |   |    |    |           | 1,048          | 1,048           |            |    |   |   |   |
| Accruals for Medicare rebates, Medicaid and related state program rebates, performance-based contract rebates, chargebacks, sales allowances, cash discounts and sales returns |     |   |    |    |           | 5,689          | 5,689           | 5,426           |    |   |   |   |
| Advertising expense                                                                                                                                                            |     |   |    |    |           |           | 2,600           | 3,100           | 3,100   |   |   |   |
| Variable lease cost                                                                                                                                                            |     |   |    |    |           |           | 328             |            |    |   |   |   |
| Array [Member]                                                                                                                                                                 |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Business acquisition, per share in cash (in dollars per share) | $ / shares                                                                                                    | $ 48     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Payments to acquire businesses, cash portion                                                                                                                                   | $ 11,200 |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Cash payments for acquisition, net of cash acquired                                                                                                                            | $ 10,900 |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| AstraZeneca [Member]                                                                                                                                                           |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Payments to acquire businesses, cash portion                                                                                                                                   |     |   |    | $ 555   |           |           |            |            | 605     |   |   |   |
| Consideration transferred                                                                                                                                                      |     |   |    | $ 1,000 |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| ICU Medical [Member] | Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] | HIS [Member]                                                                                |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
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| Cash received for disposition                                                                                                                                                  |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   | $ 900 |
| Revenue [Member] | Top Eight Products [Member] | Product Concentration Risk [Member]                                                                                           |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Concentration risk, amount                                                                                                                                                     |     |   |    |    |           |           | $ 1,000         |            |    |   |   |   |
| Concentration risk, percentage                                                                                                                                                 |     |   |    |    |           |           | 49.00%          |            |    |   |   |   |
| Revenue [Member] | Top Nine Products [Member] | Product Concentration Risk [Member]                                                                                            |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Concentration risk, amount                                                                                                                                                     |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            | $ 1,000 |   |   |   |
| Concentration risk, percentage                                                                                                                                                 |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            | 46.00%  |   |   |   |
| Revenue [Member] | Top Ten Products [Member] | Product Concentration Risk [Member]                                                                                             |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Concentration risk, amount                                                                                                                                                     |     |   |    |    |           |           |            | $ 1,000         |    |   |   |   |
| Concentration risk, percentage                                                                                                                                                 |     |   |    |    |           |           |            | 51.00%          |    |   |   |   |
| Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member]                                                                                                                                   |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| ROU assets                                                                                                                                                                     |     |   | $ 1,400 |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Lease liabilities (long-term)                                                                                                                                                  |     |   | 1,400   |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Cumulative effect on retained earnings, before tax                                                                                                                             |     |   | 30      |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Cumulative effect on retained earnings, net of tax                                                                                                                             |     |   | $ 20    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Research and Development Expense [Member] | Akcea And Ionis [Member] | Licensing Agreements [Member]                                                                           |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Payment for licensing arrangement                                                                                                                                              |     |   |    |    | $ 250          | $ 250          |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Therachon Asset Acquisition [Member]                                                                                                                                           |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Upfront payment                                                                                                                                                                |     | $ 340  |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Maximum potential milestone payments                                                                                                                                           |     | $ 470  |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Fair value of consideration transferred                                                                                                                                        |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    | $ 322  |   |   |
| Minimum [Member]                                                                                                                                                               |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Operating lease term                                                                                                                                                           |     |   |    |    |           | 1 year         | 1 year          |            |    |   |   |   |
| Operating lease term, option to extend                                                                                                                                         |     |   |    |    |           |           | 5 years         |            |    |   |   |   |
| Maximum [Member]                                                                                                                                                               |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Operating lease term                                                                                                                                                           |     |   |    |    |           | 30 years       | 30 years        |            |    |   |   |   |
| Operating lease term, option to extend                                                                                                                                         |     |   |    |    |           |           | 10 years        |            |    |   |   |   |
| Forecast [Member] | Upjohn And Mylan [Member]                                                                                                                                  |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Noncontrolling interest, ownership percentage by parent                                                                                                                        |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   | 57.00% |   |
| Forecast [Member] | Mylan [Member] | Upjohn And Mylan [Member]                                                                                                                 |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| **Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]**                                              |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   |   |   |
| Noncontrolling interest, ownership percentage by noncontrolling owners                                                                                                         |     |   |    |    |           |           |            |            |    |   | 43.00% |   |

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Amount charged to advertising expense for the period, which are expenses incurred with the objective of increasing revenue for a specified brand, product or product line.
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Amount of consideration transferred, consisting of acquisition-date fair value of assets transferred by the acquirer, liabilities incurred by the acquirer, and equity interest issued by the acquirer.
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For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division.
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Amount of the cumulative effect on retained earnings before related income tax effect.
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Amount of the cumulative effect on retained earnings net of related income tax effect.
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Amount of consideration received or receivable for the disposal of assets and liabilities, including discontinued operation.
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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.
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Term of lessee's operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.
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The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.
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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.
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Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease, classified as noncurrent.
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Amount of lessee's right to use underlying asset under operating lease.
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The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period. The cash portion only of the acquisition price.
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The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of a business, net of the cash acquired from the purchase.
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Amount of variable lease cost, excluded from lease liability, recognized when obligation for payment is incurred for finance and operating leases.
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