Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011 lawsuits plaintiffs patents years stockoptions actions matters claims charges units months	Mar. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011 stockoptions claims actions plaintiffs years charges units months	Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011 U.S. Cardiovascular reporting unit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 U.S. Neuromodulation reporting unit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 U.S. CRM reporting unit [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Reporting Unit Four [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 U.S. CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Goodwill (Textuals) [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment charge		$ 697,000,000	$ (31,000,000)	$ 1,848,000,000	$ 697,000,000	$ 1,817,000,000
Adjustment to initial goodwill impairment charge	0		31,000,000
Allocated Goodwill								782,000,000	2,300,000,000	1,300,000,000	4,000,000,000
Estimated fair value of goodwill balance as determined by first step of the goodwill impairment test			1,479,000,000	1,448,000,000		1,479,000,000
Number of reporting units with material goodwill at higher risk of failure of step one of impairment test	4				4
Goodwill, Impairment Loss, Net of Subsequent Adjustment						1,817,000,000
Carrying value of goodwill prior to impairment							1,479,000,000					3,296,000,000
Other Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
CRM amortizable intangible assets	3,500,000,000				3,500,000,000
Level of excess fair value over carrying value for reporting units, except U.S. CRM reporting unit, minimum	8.00%				8.00%
Level of excess fair value over carrying value for reporting units, except U.S. CRM reporting unit, maximum	15.00%				15.00%
Other intangible asset charges	$ 12,000,000			$ 60,000,000	$ 12,000,000	$ 60,000,000