Restructuring Charges and Other Costs Associated with Acquisitions and Cost-Reduction/Productivity Initiatives - Components of Costs Incurred (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Employee termination costs/(reversals)		$ 8	$ 33	$ 26
Exit costs	[1],[2]	0	0	1
Restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs		25	51	68
United States
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Employee termination costs/(reversals)			2	7
International
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Employee termination costs/(reversals)			31	19
Manufacturing, Research, Corporate
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Employee termination costs/(reversals)		8
Employee Severance
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Employee termination costs/(reversals)	[1],[2]	8	33	25
Employee Severance | Europe
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Employee termination costs/(reversals)				7
Severance Costs			7
Direct Cost
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Integration costs	[3]	17	18	21
Transaction costs	[4]	$ 0	$ 0	21
Operational efficiency initiative and supply network strategy
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Exit costs				1
Operational efficiency initiative and supply network strategy | Employee Severance
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Severance Costs				3
Abaxis Inc | Employee Severance
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Severance Costs				$ 21

[1] The restructuring charges are associated with the following: •For the year ended December 31, 2020, Manufacturing/research/corporate of $8 million. •For the year ended December 31, 2019, International of $2 million, and Manufacturing/research/corporate of $31 million. •For the year ended December 31, 2018, International of $7 million, and Manufacturing/research/corporate of $19 million.

[2] The restructuring charges for the year ended December 31, 2020 are primarily related to CEO transition-related costs and other cost-reduction and productivity initiatives.     The restructuring charges for the year ended December 31, 2019 are primarily related to the acquisition of Abaxis and CEO transition-related costs.     The restructuring charges for the year ended December 31, 2018 are primarily related to: •employee termination costs of $7 million in Europe as a result of initiatives to better align our organizational structure; •employee termination costs of $21 million related to the acquisition of Abaxis; and •a net reversal of employee termination costs of $3 million, and exit costs of $1 million as a result of our operational efficiency initiative and supply network strategy initiative launched in 2015.

[3] Integration costs represent external, incremental costs directly related to integrating acquired businesses and primarily include expenditures for consulting and the integration of systems and processes, as well as product transfer costs.

[4] Transaction costs represent external costs directly related to acquiring businesses and primarily include expenditures for banking, legal, accounting and other similar services.