BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION (Reconciliation to earnings before income taxes) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Segment Reporting Reconciling Item For Operating Profit Loss From Segment To Consolidated [Line Items]
Provision for restructuring	$ 24	$ 8	$ 40	$ 44	$ 63	$ 15	$ 24	$ 11	$ 116	$ 113	$ 136
Impairment and loss on sale of manufacturing operations					11	10	15	200		236
Accelerated depreciation, asset impairment, and other shutdown costs	15	19	18	23	28	27	27	31	75	113
Process standardization implementation costs	10	5	10	4	8	8	6	13	29	35
Gain on sale of product lines, businesses and assets		12							12
Litigation (recovery)/charges									25
Upfront, milestone, and other licensing payments	(20)	69	50	88	60		17	55	187	132
Noncontrolling interest									2,333	2,091	1,808
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes									6,981	6,071	5,602
Significant Reconciling Items [Member]
Segment Reporting Reconciling Item For Operating Profit Loss From Segment To Consolidated [Line Items]
Segment income									5,083	4,642	4,492
Provision for restructuring									(116)	(113)	(136)
Impairment and loss on sale of manufacturing operations										(236)
Accelerated depreciation, asset impairment, and other shutdown costs									(75)	(113)	(115)
Process standardization implementation costs									(29)	(35)	(110)
Gain on sale of product lines, businesses and assets									12		360
Litigation (recovery)/charges									22	19	(132)
Upfront, milestone, and other licensing payments									(187)	(132)	(347)
BMS Foundation funding initiative											(100)
Other									(72)	(55)	(53)
Noncontrolling interest									$ 2,343	$ 2,094	$ 1,743