DISPOSITIONS (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions			3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	May 13, 2016	Jul. 01, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Pre-tax gain (loss) recognized					$ 0	$ 118	$ 334
Income tax (benefit) expense					241	429	373
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)					$ 9	$ 37	$ 112
Effective tax rate					23.40%	39.50%	33.80%
Investment in equity method investee					$ 0	$ 0	$ 33
Equity method investments carrying value					462	443
Q² Solutions [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)							$ 145
Investment in equity method investee		$ 33
Equity method investment, ownership percentage		40.00%
Equity method investments carrying value					$ 406	389
Excess of equity in underlying net assets				$ 219
Clinical Trials [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Pre-tax gain (loss) recognized				$ 334
Discount rate				12.00%
Long-term growth rate				2.50%
Deferred income tax liabilities				$ 145
Focus Diagnostics Products [Member] | DiaSorin [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Supply agreement	5 years
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] | Focus Diagnostics Products [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Consideration	$ 300
Consideration, net	293
Proceeds held in escrow	25
Pre-tax gain (loss) recognized			$ 118			118
Income tax (benefit) expense	84					84
Taxes payable, current						91
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)	$ (7)					$ (7)
Effective tax rate	71.40%
Goodwill	$ 113
Intangible assets	30
Other assets	38
Liabilities, current	$ 6
Equity Method Investment, Basis Difference [Member] | Q² Solutions [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Amount allocated to finite-lived intangible assets		$ 75
Finite-lived intangible assets, remaining amortization period		8 years