Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) reportablesegments	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | reportablesegments	3
Net sales	$ 9,913	$ 10,735	$ 9,823
Depreciation	(333)	(311)	(296)
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	(80)	1,518	1,506
Amortization expense	(789)	(699)	(599)
Other expense, net	1	(831)	(85)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(79)	687	1,422
Goodwill	9,951	10,176	7,911
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	5,917	7,886	6,372
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	458	336	0
Long-Lived Assets	18,409	20,477	16,064
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets (segment reporting)	1,133
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	5,701	6,167	5,538
Long-Lived Assets	1,151	1,148	1,061
IRELAND
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-Lived Assets	382	327	242
Other countries [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-Lived Assets	551	604	478
MedSurg [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	3,066	3,307	3,007
Depreciation	(80)	(75)	(72)
Operating Income (Loss) Allocated to Reportable Segments	$ 1,079	$ 1,204	$ 1,102
Segment operating income as percentage of net sales	35.20%	36.40%	36.70%
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 1,638	$ 1,803
Goodwill	2,059	2,061	$ 2,063
Rhythm and Neuro [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	2,752	3,140	3,041
Depreciation	(96)	(92)	(91)
Operating Income (Loss) Allocated to Reportable Segments	$ 439	$ 666	$ 655
Segment operating income as percentage of net sales	15.90%	21.20%	21.50%
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 1,827	$ 1,873
Goodwill	2,194	2,192	$ 1,924
Cardiovascular [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	3,876	4,208	3,777
Depreciation	(154)	(138)	(133)
Operating Income (Loss) Allocated to Reportable Segments	$ 661	$ 1,137	$ 1,117
Segment operating income as percentage of net sales	17.10%	27.00%	29.60%
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 2,461	$ 2,535
Goodwill	5,697	5,676	$ 3,925
BSX Reportable Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	9,694	10,654	9,823
Depreciation	(330)	(306)	(296)
BSX Reportable Segments | United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	5,508	6,097	5,538
Total allocated to reportable segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	2,179	3,007	2,875
Assets (segment reporting)	5,926	6,211
Specialty Pharmaceuticals [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Depreciation	(3)	(6)
Operating income allocated to reportable segments	143	56
Assets (segment reporting)		211
Goodwill	0	247	0
Corporate Expenses including hedging activities [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income Unallocated to Segment	(405)	(264)	(372)
Goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges, acquisition/divestiture-related net charges (credits), restructuring and restructuring-related net charges (credits), litigation-related net charges (credits) and EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) implementation costs
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income Unallocated to Segment	(1,208)	(582)	$ (398)
Corporate Segment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets (segment reporting)	7,850	6,082
Consolidated BSX [Domain]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets (segment reporting)	$ 30,777	$ 30,565