Companies Johnson & Johnson FollowApril 18 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) on Tuesday cautioned investors over the lingering impact of inflation-driven costs this year as the healthcare conglomerate issued a conservative full-year profit forecast, and its shares fell more than 2%. J&J also said it expected a steep decline in sales of its blockbuster Crohn's disease drug Stelara once it loses U.S. patent protection in late 2023. J&J, the first large drugmaker and medical device manufacturer to report earnings, raised the midpoint of its full-year profit forecast by 10 cents despite beating first-quarter estimates by 18 cents. A recovery in medical procedures after being weighed down by hospital staffing shortages helped the medical device unit post sales of $7.48 billion, topping analysts' estimates of $7.31 billion. Consumer health sales rose 7.4% to $3.85 billion, surpassing estimates of $3.62 billion, powered by price hikes to offset the impact from inflation.

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