Contingencies and Environmental Liabilities - Vytorin/Zetia Litigation - Textual (Detail) (USD $)	May 24, 2012 Vytorin ERISA Lawsuits	Sep. 30, 2012 Vytorin Shareholder Lawsuits
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Settlement agreement amount	$ 10,400,000
Upper limit of directors and officers insurance coverage		$ 250,000,000

Amount of consideration the entity has agreed to pay to settle a legal matter.

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14326-108349

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14435-108349

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 9

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952336&loc=d3e14557-108349

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant