Acquisitions and Divestitures - Narrative (Detail) (USD $)	9 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		8 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 02, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Apr. 23, 2012 Nutrition [Member]	Aug. 31, 2011 Capsugel [Member]	Aug. 13, 2012 OTC Nexium, 20 Mg Tablet	Apr. 01, 2012 Ferrosan Holding A/S [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 King [Member]	Oct. 02, 2011 King [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 King [Member]	Jan. 31, 2011 King [Member]		Feb. 26, 2012 Alacer Corp [Member]
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Upfront cash paid to acquire marketing rights						$ 250,000,000
Milestone payments to acquire marketing rights						550,000,000
Payments to acquire businesses, net of cash acquired	782,000,000	3,188,000,000							3,200,000,000
Revenues								938,000,000
Identifiable intangible assets							463,000,000				2,790,000,000		247,000,000
Net deferred tax liabilities							119,000,000						94,000,000
Goodwill	44,370,000,000		44,569,000,000				246,000,000				765,000,000	[1]	151,000,000
Acquisition purchase price per share										$ 14.25	$ 14.25
Percent of outstanding shares initially acquired											92.50%
Total consideration transferred											3,600,000,000
Gross contractual amount receivable											200,000,000
Sale price for discontinued operation				$ 11,850,000,000	$ 2,400,000,000

[1] Goodwill recorded as of the acquisition date totaled $720 million for our three biopharmaceutical operating segments and $45 million for our Animal Health operating segment. (Since the acquisition of King, we have revised our operating segments. See Note 13A. Segment, Geographic and Other Revenue Information: Segment Information.)