Represents the number of individual plaintiff lawsuits filed, pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Represents the number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements are entered into that violated federal and state antitrust laws and state consumer protection and unjust enrichment laws.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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- Definition

Represents the number of purported class actions filed, pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

Represents the period of stay granted for a litigation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

Numbers of cases are consolidated for pre-trial purposes.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the percentage of pending claims in the United States District Courts.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents number of the number of individual putative class action lawsuit.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	abbv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of plaintiffs that have filed claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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Legal Proceedings and Contingencies (Details) - item	1 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies (Details) - item	Nov. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Aug. 31, 2013	Nov. 30, 2009	Sep. 30, 2015
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of individual putative class action lawsuit	5
Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of cases pending					70
Numbers of cases are consolidated for pre-trial purposes					1,600
Depakote
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Percentage of pending claims in US District Courts					90.00%
Number of cases pending					700
Depakote \| Sidney Hillman Health Center of Rochester, et al. v. AbbVie Inc., et al.
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of healthcare benefit providers who filed lawsuits			3
HUMIRA patent infringement claim, NYU and Centocor \| AndroGel Antitrust Litigation
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements were entered into					3
Number of individual plaintiff lawsuits					4
Number of purported class actions					6
HUMIRA patent infringement claim, NYU and Centocor \| Niaspan
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of individual plaintiff lawsuits					2
Number of purported class actions					2
Allegation of proposed generic products infringing AbbVie's patents and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief \| AndroGel Antitrust Litigation
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Number of generic companies with whom certain litigation related agreements were entered into		2
Allegation of proposed generic products infringing AbbVie's patents and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief \| Matrix Laboratories, Inc.'s, Matrix Laboratories, Ltd.'s, and Mylan, Inc.'s case
Legal Proceedings and Contingencies
Stay period				5 years