XML 66 R55.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.21.2

Financial Instruments - Information on Available-for-sale Investments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | ---
Sep. 30, 2021 | Sep. 30, 2020 | Sep. 30, 2021 | Sep. 30, 2020 | Dec. 31, 2020
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Debt securities, amortized cost | $ 89 |  | $ 89 |  | $ 89
Debt securities, unrealized gains | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, unrealized losses | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, fair value | 89 |  | 89 |  | 89
Publicly traded equity securities, fair value | 1,915 |  | 1,915 |  | 1,787
Total debt and publicly traded equity securities, fair value | 2,004 |  | 2,004 |  | 1,876
Unrealized net (losses) gains | 90 | $ 43 | (109) | $ 512 |
U.S. government and agency securities |  |  |  |  |
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Debt securities, amortized cost | 83 |  | 83 |  | 84
Debt securities, unrealized gains | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, unrealized losses | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, fair value | 83 |  | 83 |  | 84
Corporate notes and bonds |  |  |  |  |
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Debt securities, amortized cost | 4 |  | 4 |  | 0
Debt securities, unrealized gains | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, unrealized losses | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, fair value | 4 |  | 4 |  | 0
Foreign government bonds |  |  |  |  |
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Debt securities, amortized cost | 2 |  | 2 |  | 5
Debt securities, unrealized gains | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, unrealized losses | 0 |  | 0 |  | 0
Debt securities, fair value | $ 2 |  | $ 2 |  | $ 5

X
- Definition Debt Securities and Equity Securities, FV-NI + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | mrk_DebtSecuritiesandEquitySecuritiesFVNI
Namespace Prefix: | mrk_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount, before tax, of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale). + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123581744&loc=d3e27161-111563 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedGainBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount, before tax, of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale). + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123581744&loc=d3e27161-111563 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amortized cost of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123581744&loc=d3e27161-111563 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 326 -SubTopic 30 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124258926&loc=SL82898722-210454 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAmortizedCostBasis
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 942 -SubTopic 210 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(6)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120398452&loc=d3e534808-122878 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 326 -SubTopic 30 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124258926&loc=SL82898722-210454 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124260329&loc=d3e26610-111562 Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (aa) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123581744&loc=d3e27161-111563 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesDebtSecurities
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of investment in equity security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in net income (FV-NI), classified as current. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 825 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123594786&loc=SL75136599-209740 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesFvNi
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of unrealized gain (loss) on investment in equity security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in net income (FV-NI). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -SubTopic 220 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.7-04(3)(d)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120400993&loc=SL114874131-224263 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 321 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123583765&loc=SL75117546-209714 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesFvNiUnrealizedGainLoss
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- 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
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_USGovernmentAgenciesDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CorporateDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_ForeignGovernmentDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |