Commitments and Contingencies (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended						1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013		Apr. 01, 2012		Nov. 30, 2012 Actions	Mar. 31, 2010 Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. [Member]	Jan. 31, 2011 Pfizer - Neurontin Product [Member] Actions	Nov. 30, 2012 Pfizer Chantix / Champix Product [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Pfizer Chantix / Champix Product [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Wyeth - Protonix [Member] Actions	Jun. 30, 2010 Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. [Member] Patents	May 31, 2012 Several Generic Manufacturers [Member] Patents	Aug. 31, 2011 Several Generic Manufacturers [Member] Patents	Mar. 31, 2009 Several Generic Manufacturers [Member] Patents	Feb. 28, 2013 Lupin Ltd and Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. [Member] Patents	Jan. 31, 2011 Teva USA and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Sun Pharmaceutical Advanced Research Centre Ltd. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Pfizer - Bapineuzumab [Member] test_cases	Dec. 31, 2002 Pfizer - Bapineuzumab [Member] test_cases	Aug. 31, 2011 Pfizer - Rebif [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Pending Litigation [Member] Hormone Replacement Therapy [Member] Claim	Aug. 31, 2004 Pending Litigation [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Pending Litigation [Member] American Optical Corp subsidiary of Warner-Lambert [Member] Claim	Jan. 31, 2011 Pending Litigation [Member] Pfizer - Neurontin Product [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 Pending Litigation [Member] Pfizer - Neurontin Product [Member]	Dec. 31, 2008 Pending Litigation [Member] IREF -Trade Secrets Action [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Pending Litigation [Member] Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Mylan Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2005 Pending Litigation [Member] March 2005 proposed settlement [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Mar. 31, 2005 Pending Litigation [Member] March 2005 proposed settlement [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Sep. 26, 2004 Pending Litigation [Member] March 2005 proposed settlement [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Pending Litigation [Member] Court settlement rejection and Pfizer motion to appeal [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Pending Litigation [Member] Court settlement rejection and Pfizer motion to appeal [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Pending Litigation [Member] March 2011 proposed settlement [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Pending Litigation [Member] March 2011 proposed settlement [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Pending Litigation [Member] March 2011 proposed settlement [Member] Quigley Co, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary [Member] Claimant
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Period of Exclusivity							6 months									6 years	6 months
Notice of appeal and related motion																											October 2010				October 2010
Number of patents												3	2	3	3	3
Number of other patents															2
Number of Claims, Infringement of Formulation Process																2
Product litigation charge, pre-tax		$ (83,000,000)	[1]	$ 814,000,000	[1]																									$ 369,000,000		$ 1,300,000,000
Product litigation charge, after-tax																														229,000,000		800,000,000
The minimum percentage of votes needed from claimants to approve the proposed bankruptcy reorganization plan																													75.00%
Percentage of claimants that agreed to 2004 proposed settlement																													80.00%
Gross settlement amount offered																													430,000,000
Loss Contingency Claims Payment Amount For Qualified Claimants Second Payment																																			300,000,000
Loss Contingency Settled Payment Of Legal Costs Of Plaintiff																																			19,000,000
Loss Contingency Claims Payment Amount For Qualified Claimants First Payment																												215,000,000						500,000,000
Number of Ad Hoc Committee claimants agreeing to the company's proposed settlement offer																																			40,000
Agreed upon amount of assets (cash and non-cash) to be contributed to a special purpose trust created to pay claimants, if Quigley's proposed reorganization plan is approved by the court																																	550,000,000
Insurance settlement, gross recovery																						405,000,000
Insurance settlement collection period																						10 years
Number of claims seeking damages																					10,000		66,400
Number of Multiple-Plaintiff Actions						3
Unresolved actions, years outstanding		5 years
Cumulative percentage of actions settled																					95.00%
Litigation settlement expense									288,000,000	11,000,000											1,600,000,000
Estimated minimum cost to resolve outstanding actions																					100,000,000
Damages awarded by the court																								47,400,000	65,400,000	38,700,000
Treble damages amount awarded, under appeal																								142,100,000
Number of actions								4			2
Number of test cases																			6
Number of additional test cases																		3
Number of test cases with civil actions																			6
Contract extension agreement period																				24 months
Environmental complaint and penalty demand, environmental protection agency	$ 216,000

[1] In the first quarter of 2013, primarily includes an $80 million insurance recovery related to a certain litigation matter. In the first quarter of 2012, primarily relates to a $450 million charge in connection with an agreement-in-principle to settle a lawsuit by Brigham Young University related to Celebrex (which was ultimately settled for that amount), and charges for hormone-replacement therapy litigation. For additional information, see Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies.