Tax Matters - Income from Continuing Operations Before Provision for Taxes on Income (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
United States		$ (6,879)	$ (8,534)	$ (6,809)
International		19,184	16,886	15,773
Income from continuing operations before provision/(benefit) for taxes on income	[1],[2],[3],[4]	$ 12,305	$ 8,351	$ 8,965

[1] 2016 v. 2015––The increase in the domestic loss was primarily due to a charge related to the write-down of HIS net assets to fair value less estimated costs to sell, higher asset impairments, and higher restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs, partially offset by the inclusion of a full year of legacy U.S. Hospira operations as compared to four months of U.S. operations in 2015, and lower charges for legal matters. The increase in international income is primarily due to the non-recurrence of a foreign currency loss related to Venezuela partially offset by a charge related to the write-down of HIS net assets to fair value less estimated costs to sell, and higher restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs.

[2] 2017 v. 2016––The decrease in the domestic loss was primarily due to lower restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs, the non-recurrence of the 2016 impairment on the remeasurement of HIS net assets, lower certain asset impairments and lower certain legal matters, partially offset by higher net losses on early retirement of debt, and higher amortization of intangible assets. The increase in international income was primarily due to the non-recurrence of the 2016 impairment on the remeasurement of HIS net assets, lower restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs, and lower certain asset impairments.

[3] Amounts may not add due to rounding.

[4] Income from continuing operations before provision/(benefit) for taxes on income. IH’s earnings in 2017 include dividend income of $266 million from our investment in ViiV. For additional information, see Note 4.