Subsequent Events

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Subsequent Events [Abstract]

Subsequent Events

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

In January 2012, Stryker Biotech reached a settlement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. As part of the settlement, we pled to one misdemeanor charge and paid a non-tax-deductible fine of $15. As a result of this resolution, the Department of Justice dismissed all thirteen felony charges against Stryker Biotech contained in a 2009 federal grand jury indictment. We had previously disclosed that our Biotech division was the target of a federal grand jury investigation being conducted by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. The settlement represented a recognized subsequent event and accordingly was recorded in our fourth quarter 2011 results.

We have evaluated subsequent events after December 31, 2011 and concluded that no other material transactions occurred subsequent to that date that provided additional evidence about conditions that existed at or after December 31, 2011 that require adjustment to the Consolidated Financial Statements.