Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			28 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Mar. 31, 2010	Nov. 19, 2007	Dec. 31, 2010 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Accrual for legal matters that are probable and estimable			$ 299,000,000	$ 588,000,000
Litigation payment to DOJ for Guidant criminal investigation		296,000,000						1,000,000
Settlement for lost profits related to the Jang patent litigation			18,500,000
Settlement for royalties related to Jang patent			1,000,000
Maximum potential payment related to MDL settlement							240,000,000
Payment Made In Multi-District Litigation Settlement						234,000,000
Agreement to settle TPP matters			3,000,000
Litigation Settlement, Gross		296,000,000						1,000,000
Litigation Settlement, Expense		296,000,000
Net charge related to DOJ matter					294,000,000
Reversal of accrual related to US DOJ matter					2,000,000
Contribution commitment towards education program	15,000,000
Litigation-related charges (credits)			48,000,000	(104,000,000)	2,022,000,000
Proceeds from Medinol settlement				104,000,000
Litigation settlement for patent disputes with Johnson & Johnson					1,725,000,000
Minimum damages for Guidant breach of Merger Agreement			5,500,000,000
Credit resulting from reversal of litigation-related accruals					60,000,000
Pre-tax charge related to settlement of outstanding litigation with another party					$ 50,000,000