SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (UNAUDITED) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Total Revenues	$ 5,449	$ 5,254	$ 5,144	$ 4,929	$ 5,243	$ 4,922	$ 4,871	$ 4,391	$ 20,776	$ 19,427	$ 16,560
Gross Margin	3,776	3,682	3,582	3,670	3,860	3,617	3,665	3,339	14,710	14,481
Net Earnings	(2,329)	856	922	1,526	898	1,215	1,188	1,206	975	4,507	1,631
Net Earnings/(Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(1)	11	6	(48)	4	13	22	11	(32)	50	66
Net Earnings/(Loss) Attributable to BMS	$ (2,328)	$ 845	$ 916	$ 1,574	$ 894	$ 1,202	$ 1,166	$ 1,195	$ 1,007	$ 4,457	$ 1,565
Earnings per Share - Basic	$ (1.42)	$ 0.52	$ 0.56	$ 0.95	$ 0.53	$ 0.72	$ 0.70	$ 0.72	$ 0.61	$ 2.67	$ 0.94
Earnings per Share - Diluted	(1.42)	0.51	0.56	0.94	0.53	0.72	0.69	0.71	0.61	2.65	0.93
Cash dividends declared per common share	$ 0.40	$ 0.39	$ 0.39	$ 0.39	$ 0.39	$ 0.38	$ 0.38	$ 0.38	$ 1.57	$ 1.53	$ 1.49
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 5,421	$ 4,644	$ 3,470	$ 3,910	$ 4,237	$ 3,432	$ 2,934	$ 2,644	$ 5,421	$ 4,237	$ 2,385	$ 5,571
Marketable securities	3,871	5,004	5,615	4,884	4,832	5,163	4,998	5,352	3,871	4,832
Total Assets	33,551	33,977	33,409	32,937	33,707	33,727	32,831	31,892	33,551	33,707
Long-term debt	6,975	6,982	6,911	7,237	6,465	6,585	6,581	6,593	6,975	6,465
Equity	11,847	14,914	14,821	14,535	16,347	15,781	15,078	14,551	11,847	16,347
Cost of products sold	18	1	130		6	7	4	4	149	21
Marketing, selling and administrative	1								1
Research and development	528	374	489	197	186	59	152	138	1,588	535
Other income (net)	131	50	(337)	(384)	83	22	(234)	(185)	(540)	(314)
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	678	425	282	(187)	275	88	(78)	(43)	1,198	242
Income tax on items above	(138)	(41)	20	72					(87)
Income taxes attributed to U.S. tax reform	2,911								2,911
Income taxes	2,773	(41)	20	72	(105)	(3)	76	83	2,824	51
Increase/(decrease) to Net Earnings	3,451	384	302	(115)	170	85	(2)	40	4,022	293
Noncontrolling interest - specified items				(59)					(59)
Increase/(decrease) to net earnings used for Dilutd Non-GAAP EPS	3,451	384	302	(174)					3,963
License and asset acquisition charges
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	377	310	393	50	130	45	139	125	1,130	439
IPRD impairments [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income				75	13				75	13
Site exit costs and other [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	151	64	96	72	43	14	13	13	383	83
Provision for restructuring [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	86	28	15	164	68	19	18	4	293	109
Litigation and other settlements [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income				(481)		(3)		43	(481)	40
Divestiture gains [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	(26)			(100)		(13)	(277)	(269)	(126)	(559)
Royalties and licensing income [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income			(497)		(10)				(497)	(10)
Pension charges [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income	$ 71	$ 22	36	$ 33	$ 25	$ 19	$ 25	22	162	91
Intangible asset impairment [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income								$ 15		$ 15
Loss on debt redemption [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Increase/(decrease) to pretax income			$ 109						$ 109