Segment Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	$ 9,773,241,000	$ 9,816,665,000	$ 29,036,974,000	$ 28,473,806,000
Total Reportable Segments
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	9,080,000,000	9,077,000,000	26,874,000,000	26,268,000,000
Operating Earnings	3,120,000,000	2,851,000,000	8,522,000,000	7,647,000,000
Proprietary Pharmaceutical Products
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	4,418,000,000	4,315,000,000	12,870,000,000	12,290,000,000
Operating Earnings	2,106,000,000	1,893,000,000	5,594,000,000	4,959,000,000
Established Pharmaceutical Products
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	1,272,000,000	1,372,000,000	3,775,000,000	3,975,000,000
Operating Earnings	350,000,000	297,000,000	913,000,000	893,000,000
Nutritional Products
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	1,605,000,000	1,537,000,000	4,755,000,000	4,450,000,000
Operating Earnings	244,000,000	205,000,000	720,000,000	540,000,000
Diagnostic Products
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	1,042,000,000	1,025,000,000	3,162,000,000	3,046,000,000
Operating Earnings	201,000,000	199,000,000	623,000,000	555,000,000
Vascular Products
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	743,000,000	828,000,000	2,312,000,000	2,507,000,000
Operating Earnings	219,000,000	257,000,000	672,000,000	700,000,000
Other
Segment Reporting Information
Net Sales to External Customers	693,000,000	740,000,000	2,163,000,000	2,206,000,000
Operating Earnings	$ 1,872,000,000	$ 502,000,000	$ 5,389,000,000	$ 3,245,000,000