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Contingencies and Environmental Liabilities - Legal Defense Reserves - Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions | Dec. 31, 2020 | Dec. 31, 2019
--- | --- | ---
Legal Defense Costs |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |
Legal defense costs reserve | $ 250 | $ 240

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- Definition Aggregate carrying amount of the estimated litigation liability for known or estimated probable loss from litigation, which may include attorneys' fees and other litigation costs. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121557415&loc=d3e14326-108349 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.25) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LitigationReserve
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Details
Name: | us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesTypeAxis=mrk_LegalDefenseCostsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |