SUBSEQUENT EVENT SUBSEQUENT EVENT (Details) - Scenario, Forecast [Member] - Subsequent Event [Member] $ / shares in Units, $ in Billions	Jan. 03, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Share Price \| $ / shares	$ 50.00
Business Combination, Potential Payment Per Share Based Upon Future Events \| $ / shares	$ 9.00
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred \| $	$ 74.0
Accelerated Share Repurchases, Settlement (Payment) or Receipt \| $	$ 5.0

Business Combination, Potential Payment Per Share Based Upon Future Events

No definition available.

Name:	bmy_BusinessCombinationPotentialPaymentPerShareBasedUponFutureEvents
Namespace Prefix:	bmy_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of cash receipt from (payment to) bank; or stock received from (issuance to) bank in the settlement of the accelerated share repurchase agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 30
-Section 25
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6405686&loc=d3e22802-112653

+ Details

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

- Definition

Price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks paid or offered to be paid in a business combination.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionSharePrice
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

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.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 30
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109124213&loc=d3e6613-128477

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 30
-Paragraph 7
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109124213&loc=d3e6578-128477

+ Details

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

- Definition

Detail information of subsequent event by type. User is expected to use existing line items from elsewhere in the taxonomy as the primary line items for this disclosure, which is further associated with dimension and member elements pertaining to a subsequent event.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
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- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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