SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (UNAUDITED) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Total Revenues	$ 5,243	$ 4,922	$ 4,871	$ 4,391	$ 4,287	$ 4,069	$ 4,163	$ 4,041	$ 19,427	$ 16,560	$ 15,879
Gross Margin	3,860	3,617	3,665	3,339	3,335	2,972	3,150	3,194	14,481	12,651
Net Earnings	898	1,215	1,188	1,206	(188)	730	(110)	1,199	4,507	1,631	2,029
Net Earnings/(Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	4	13	22	11	9	24	20	13	50	66	25
Net Earnings/(Loss) Attributable to BMS	$ 894	$ 1,202	$ 1,166	$ 1,195	$ (197)	$ 706	$ (130)	$ 1,186	$ 4,457	$ 1,565	$ 2,004
Earnings per Share - Basic	$ 0.53	$ 0.72	$ 0.70	$ 0.72	$ (0.12)	$ 0.42	$ (0.08)	$ 0.71	$ 2.67	$ 0.94	$ 1.21
Earnings per Share - Diluted	0.53	0.72	0.69	0.71	(0.12)	0.42	(0.08)	0.71	2.65	0.93	1.20
Cash dividends declared per common share	$ 0.39	$ 0.38	$ 0.38	$ 0.38	$ 0.38	$ 0.37	$ 0.37	$ 0.37	$ 1.53	$ 1.49	$ 1.45
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 4,237	$ 3,432	$ 2,934	$ 2,644	$ 2,385	$ 3,975	$ 4,199	$ 6,294	$ 4,237	$ 2,385	$ 5,571	$ 3,586
Marketable securities	4,832	5,163	4,998	5,352	6,545	6,065	5,909	5,592	4,832	6,545
Total Assets	33,707	33,727	32,831	31,892	31,748	31,779	31,954	33,579	33,707	31,748
Long-term debt	6,465	6,585	6,581	6,593	6,550	6,632	6,615	7,127	6,465	6,550
Equity	16,347	15,781	15,078	14,551	14,424	15,273	15,291	15,689	16,347	14,424
Cost of products sold	6	7	4	4	10	15	25	34	21	84
Marketing, selling and administrative					4	2	3	1		10
Research and development	186	59	152	138	741	109	871	162	535	1,883
Other (income)/expense	83	22	(234)	(185)	428	(227)	237	(122)	(314)	316
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	275	88	(78)	(43)	1,183	(101)	1,136	75	242	2,293
Income tax on items above	(105)	(3)	76	83	(339)	43	(116)	(68)	51	(480)
Increase/(decrease) to Net Earnings	170	85	(2)	40	844	(58)	1,020	7	293	1,813
License and asset acquisition charges
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	130	45	139	125	554	94	869	162	439	1,679
IPRD impairments [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	13				160				13	160
Accelerated depreciation and other [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	43	14	13	13	27	15	2		83	44
Provision for restructuring [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	68	19	18	4	65	10	28	12	109	115
Litigation and other settlements [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income		(3)		43	143		1	14	40	158
Divestiture (gains)/losses [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income		(13)	(277)	(269)	171	(198)	(8)	(152)	(559)	(187)
Royalties and licensing income [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	(10)								(10)
Pension charges [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	$ 25	$ 19	$ 25	22	$ 49	48	36	27	91	160
Intangible asset impairment [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income				$ 15				13	$ 15	13
Written option adjustment [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income						$ (87)		$ (36)		(123)
Loss on debt redemption [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income							$ 180			$ 180