| **Fair Value Measurements And Financial Instruments Fair Value Measurements, Fair Value Inputs, Liabilities, Quantitative Information (Details) (USD $)In Millions, unless otherwise specified** |        |        |        |        |        |        | 12 Months Ended |        |        | 12 Months Ended |        |         |
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| **Fair Value Inputs, Liabilities, Quantitative Information [Line Items]**                                                                                                                        |   |   |   |   |   |   |            |   |   |            |   |    |   |   |   |   |   |
| Fair value of acquisition contingent consideration                                                                                                                                               | $ 188  | $ 0    | $ 0    | $ 195  | $ 195  | $ 0    |            |   |   | $ 139           | $ 0    |    |   |   |   | $ 56 | $ 0 |
| Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate                                                                                                                                                                 |   |   |   |   |   |   |            | 1.15%  | 1.59%  |            |   | 5.00%   |   |   |   |   |   |
| Probability of Payment                                                                                                                                                                           |   |   |   |   |   |   | 90.00%          |   |   |            |   | 100.00% |   |   |   |   |   |
| Projected Year Of Payment                                                                                                                                                                        |   |   |   |   |   |   | 2014            |   |   |            |   |    | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |   |   |

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| - Definition
Probability of Payment
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**stj_ProbabilityofPayment**Namespace Prefix:**stj_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Projected Year Of Payment
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**stj_ProjectedYearOfPayment**Namespace Prefix:**stj_**Data Type:**xbrli:gYearItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
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| - Definition
Interest rate used to find the present value of an amount to be paid or received in the future as an input to measure fair value.  For example, but not limited to, weighted average cost of capital (WACC), cost of capital, cost of equity and cost of debt.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 820 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (bbb) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25499696&loc=d3e19207-110258
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_FairValueInputsDiscountRate**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_FairValueInputsLiabilitiesQuantitativeInformationLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
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| - Definition
Fair value of financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 820 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25499696&loc=d3e19207-110258
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationsRecurringBasisLiabilityValue**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**credit**Period Type:**instant |