Acquisition, Divestitures, Licensing Arrangements, Collaborative Arrangements and Privately Held Investment - Sale of Hospira Infusion Systems Net Assets to ICU Medical, Inc. (EH) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Feb. 03, 2017	Aug. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Oct. 01, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018		Oct. 01, 2017		Jan. 05, 2017	Oct. 06, 2016
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net unrealized gains related to shares held	[1]			$ 40		$ 370
Gain (loss) on sale of HIS net assets	[2]			2	$ 12	1	[3]	$ (52)	[3]
ICU Medical [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net unrealized gains related to shares held				24		229
HIS [Member] | Disposed of by Sale [Member] | ICU Medical [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration transferred										$ 900	$ 1,000
Shares received in disposition (in shares)		3,200,000
Value of shares received from disposition		$ 428
Shares sold (in shares)			700,000
Realized gain on sale of shares			$ 50
Promissory note		75
Cash received from disposition								200
Contingent consideration		$ 225
Gain (loss) on sale of HIS net assets				$ 2	$ 12	$ 1		$ (52)
Administrative service period		24 months
Maximum manufacturing service period		5 years
ICU Medical [Member] | ICU Medical [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage				12.00%		12.00%
Long-term Investments [Member] | ICU Medical [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Shares currently held (in shares)				2,500,000

[1] The third quarter of 2018 includes $8 million of unrealized net gains in Other (income)/deductions––net reflecting the adoption of a new accounting standard in the first quarter of 2018 and $32 million of unrealized gains on other equity securities. The first nine months of 2018 includes $344 million of unrealized net gains in Other (income)/deductions––net reflecting the adoption of a new accounting standard in the first quarter of 2018 and $26 million of unrealized gains on other equity securities. For additional information, see Note 1B and Note 4.

[2] Represents adjustments to amounts previously recorded in 2016 to write down the HIS net assets to fair value less costs to sell related to the sale of HIS net assets to ICU Medical on February 3, 2017. For additional information, see Note 2B.

[3] Amounts may not add due to rounding.