Restructuring Charges and Other Costs Associated with Acquisitions and Cost-Reduction/Productivity Initiatives - Costs (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions		12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Restructuring charges:
Employee terminations		$ 680	$ 474	$ 108
Asset impairments		53	66	69
Exit costs/(credits)		8	(6)	50
Total restructuring charges/(credits)	[1]	741	535	227
Transaction costs	[2]	20	10	63
Integration costs and other	[3]	41	34	311
Restructuring charges and certain acquisition-related costs		802	579	601
Additional depreciation - asset restructuring, virtually all of which is recorded in Cost of sales	[4]	87	17	40
Implementation costs recorded in our consolidated statements of income as follows:
Implementation costs	[5]	472	238	156
Total costs associated with acquisitions and cost-reduction/productivity initiatives		1,298	838	820
Other Nonoperating Income (Expense) [Member]
Restructuring charges:
Net periodic benefit costs recorded in Other (income)/deductions––net	[6]	(63)	3	23
Cost of Sales [Member]
Restructuring charges:
Additional depreciation - asset restructuring, virtually all of which is recorded in Cost of sales	[4]	63	21	29
Implementation costs recorded in our consolidated statements of income as follows:
Implementation costs	[5]	45	40	61
Selling, Informational and Administrative Expenses [Member]
Restructuring charges:
Additional depreciation - asset restructuring, virtually all of which is recorded in Cost of sales	[4]	23	0	3
Implementation costs recorded in our consolidated statements of income as follows:
Implementation costs	[5]	426	197	73
Research and Development Expense [Member]
Restructuring charges:
Additional depreciation - asset restructuring, virtually all of which is recorded in Cost of sales	[4]	0	(3)	8
Implementation costs recorded in our consolidated statements of income as follows:
Implementation costs	[5]	$ 1	$ 1	$ 22

[1] Represents acquisition-related costs ($9 million credit in 2021 and $192 million credit in 2019) and cost reduction initiatives ($750 million charge in 2021, $535 million charge in 2020, and $418 million charge in 2019). 2021 and 2020 charges mainly represent employee termination costs for our Transforming to a More Focused Company cost-reduction program. 2019 restructuring charges mainly represent employee termination costs for cost-reduction and productivity initiatives, partially offset by the reversal of certain accruals related to our acquisition of Wyeth upon the effective favorable settlement of an IRS audit for multiple tax years (see Note 5B). The employee termination costs for 2019 were primarily for our improvements to operational effectiveness as part of the realignment of our business structure, and also included employee termination costs for the Transforming to a More Focused Company cost-reduction program.

[2] Represents external costs for banking, legal, accounting and other similar services.

[3] Represents external, incremental costs directly related to integrating acquired businesses, such as expenditures for consulting and the integration of systems and processes, and certain other qualifying costs. 2021 costs primarily related to our acquisition of Trillium. 2020 costs primarily related to our acquisition of Array. 2019 costs mainly related to our acquisitions of Array, including $157 million in payments to Array employees for the fair value of previously unvested stock options that was recognized as post-closing compensation expense (see Note 2A), and Hospira.

[4] Represents the impact of changes in the estimated useful lives of assets involved in restructuring actions.

[5] Represents external, incremental costs directly related to implementing our non-acquisition-related cost-reduction/productivity initiatives.

[6] (d)Amounts include the impact of a change in accounting principle. See Note 1C.