INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND GOODWILL - Narrative (Details)								2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			24 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2022 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2021 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2022 USD ($) reporting_unit	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2022 USD ($) reporting_unit	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Asset impairments, including loss on assets held for sale															$ 15,000,000	$ 234,000,000	$ 114,000,000
Impairment of Intangible Asset, Finite Lived, Statement of Income or Comprehensive Income, Extensible Enumeration, Not Disclosed Flag															impairments	impairments
Revenues															$ 8,124,000,000	$ 8,434,000,000	8,027,000,000
Finite-lived intangible assets									$ 4,102,000,000						4,102,000,000	5,250,000,000		$ 5,250,000,000
Goodwill impairments			$ 0	$ 0											824,000,000	469,000,000
Percentage of fair value in excess of carrying value			45.00%	40.00%
Goodwill									11,547,000,000						11,547,000,000	12,457,000,000	13,044,000,000	12,457,000,000	$ 13,126,000,000
Salix
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Revenues															2,090,000,000	2,074,000,000	1,904,000,000
Goodwill impairments															0	0
Goodwill									3,159,000,000						3,159,000,000	3,159,000,000	3,159,000,000	3,159,000,000	3,159,000,000
Ortho Dermatologics
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairments															0	469,000,000
Number of reporting units | reporting_unit												2
Goodwill									0						0	798,000,000	1,267,000,000	798,000,000	$ 1,267,000,000
Xifaxan Branded Products
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of intangible assets									0	$ 0
Revenues													$ 1,216,000,000	$ 1,194,000,000
Finite-lived intangible assets									2,693,000,000						$ 2,693,000,000
Finite lived intangible assets, useful life													60 months
Xifaxan Branded Products | Revenue from Contract with Customer, Segment Benchmark | Product Concentration Risk | Salix
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage										80.00%			80.00%		80.00%
Bausch + Lomb
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Number of reporting units | reporting_unit								3
Ortho Dermatologics Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairments		$ 0		$ 469,000,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0			$ 119,000,000	$ 83,000,000	$ 0
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates		1.00%		1.00%	2.00%			1.00%		1.00%	1.00%	1.00%	1.00%
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate		9.00%						10.00%		10.50%	10.00%	9.00%	10.50%
Percentage of fair value in excess of carrying value		10.00%			10.00%							2.00%
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, change in discount rate								1.00%			1.00%
Goodwill										$ 480,000,000			$ 480,000,000
Reporting Units Excluding Ortho Dermatologics
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairments																	0
Vision Care, Surgical And Ophthalmic Reporting Units | Bausch + Lomb
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairments								$ 0	$ 0
Percentage of fair value in excess of carrying value								25.00%	25.00%		25.00%				25.00%
Salix Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairments										$ 0
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates										2.50%			2.50%
Percentage of fair value in excess of carrying value										5.00%			5.00%
Neurology and Other Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill impairments	$ 622,000,000
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates									(2.50%)						(2.50%)
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate									10.25%						10.25%
Goodwill									$ 1,439,000,000						$ 1,439,000,000
Surgical Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Accumulated goodwill impairment charges to date									$ 5,004,000,000						$ 5,004,000,000
Minimum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates			2.00%	1.00%
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate			7.00%	11.00%
Minimum | Ortho Dermatologics Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate				9.00%	9.50%
Minimum | Vision Care, Surgical And Ophthalmic Reporting Units | Bausch + Lomb
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates								2.00%	2.00%		2.00%				2.00%
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate								9.00%	9.50%		9.00%				9.50%
Minimum | Salix Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate										9.75%			9.75%
Maximum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates			3.00%	3.00%
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate			10.00%	12.25%
Maximum | Ortho Dermatologics Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate				10.00%	9.75%
Maximum | Vision Care, Surgical And Ophthalmic Reporting Units | Bausch + Lomb
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, long-term growth rates								3.00%	3.00%		3.00%				3.00%
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate								11.50%	12.25%		11.50%				12.25%
Maximum | Salix Reporting Unit
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Reporting unit, impairment test, estimated cash flows, discount rate										10.00%			10.00%
Acquired IPR&D
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets																	1,000,000
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Amoun
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of intangible assets																88,000,000
Impairment of long-lived assets																26,000,000		210,000,000
Held For Sale | A Certain International Business
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of long-lived assets																	96,000,000
Product brands
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of intangible assets															$ 10,000,000	105,000,000	16,000,000
Finite-lived intangible assets									$ 3,644,000,000						$ 3,644,000,000	4,673,000,000		$ 4,673,000,000
Finite lived intangible assets, useful life															5 years
Product brands | Minimum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite lived intangible assets, useful life															1 year
Product brands | Maximum
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite lived intangible assets, useful life															20 years
Discontinued Product Lines
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of intangible assets															$ 5,000,000	23,000,000	$ 1,000,000
Unutilized IT Infrastructure Improvement Project
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Impairment of intangible assets																$ 18,000,000