Percent, after disposal, of ownership interest of a divested business in which an equity method investment is retained.

No definition available.

Name:	bdx_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationPercentOfBusinessRetained
Namespace Prefix:	bdx_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percent of ownership interest in a business that is sold in a disposal transaction.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bdx_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationPercentOfBusinessSold
Namespace Prefix:	bdx_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount classified as assets attributable to disposal group held for sale or disposed of.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64862545&loc=d3e2941-110230

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=d3e1107-107759

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64827811&loc=SL51721673-107760

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=SL51721533-107759

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount classified as liabilities attributable to disposal group held for sale or disposed of.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64862545&loc=d3e2941-110230

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=d3e1107-107759

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=SL51721533-107759

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64827811&loc=SL51721673-107760

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DisposalGroupHeldforsaleNotDiscontinuedOperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=bdx_RespiratorySolutionsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis=us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
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Divestiture - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Oct. 03, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Assets		$ 642		$ 0
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Liabilities		189		$ 0
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations \| Respiratory Solutions
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Percent Of Business Sold			50.10%
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Assets		578
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Liabilities		$ 189
Subsequent Event \| Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations \| Respiratory Solutions
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Percent Of Business Retained	49.90%