Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) reportablesegments	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Operating Segments | reportablesegments			6
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	$ 2,288	$ 1,981	$ 4,433	$ 3,872
Impact Of Foreign Currency Fluctuations On Net Sales	(162)	(138)	(343)	(261)
Net sales	2,126	1,843	4,090	3,611
Operating Income Allocated to Reportable Segments	653	513	1,282	993
Amortization expense	(135)	(116)	(271)	(229)
Operating income (loss)	(334)	219	(41)	243
Other expense, net	(63)	(114)	(128)	(189)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(397)	105	$ (169)	54
Segment Reporting (Textuals) [Abstract]
Number of reportable segments | reportablesegments			3
Cardiovascular [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			$ 1,790	1,585
Operating Income Allocated to Reportable Segments	294	247	593	483
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			542	477
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			1,248	1,108
Rhythm Management [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			1,111	1,094
Operating Income Allocated to Reportable Segments	97	78	187	155
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			128	121
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			983	973
MedSurg [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			1,532	1,193
Operating Income Allocated to Reportable Segments	262	188	502	355
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			513	272
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			264	241
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments			755	680
Corporate expenses and currency exchange [Member]
Net sales
Operating (Loss) Income Unallocated to Segment	(155)	(105)	(290)	(188)
Special Charges [Member]
Net sales
Operating (Loss) Income Unallocated to Segment	(697)	(73)	$ (762)	$ (333)
Operating Segments [Member] | Cardiovascular [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	913	812
Operating Segments [Member] | Rhythm Management [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	576	550
Operating Segments [Member] | MedSurg [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	799	619
Global Interventional Cardiology (IC) Reporting Unit [Member] | Cardiovascular [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	635	567
Global Peripheral Interventions (PI) Reporting Unit [Member] | Cardiovascular [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	278	245
Global CRM Reporting Unit [Member] | Rhythm Management [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	512	490
Global Electrophysiology (EP) Reporting Unit [Member] | Rhythm Management [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	64	60
Global Endoscopy (Endo) Reporting Unit [Member] | MedSurg [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	390	352
Global Urology (Uro) Reporting Unit [Member] | MedSurg [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	270	142
Global Neuromodulation (NM) Reporting Unit [Member] | MedSurg [Member]
Net sales
Net sales allocated to reportable segments	$ 139	$ 125