Pietragallo Gordon Beats $525K Malpractice Verdict

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld the overturning of a $525,000 legal malpractice verdict against Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, making moot the firm's request for a new trial in the event its judgment notwithstanding the verdict was reversed.

Johnson & Johnson Beats Estimates

"The company's pharmaceuticals division is really well placed with lots of new drug launches at a time when the company is not facing many patent expirations on its other medicines," Morningstar analyst Damien Conover said. "And we expect to see more of this strength in the next several quarters."

Global drug revenue jumped almost 10 percent to $7.04 billion, repeating the strong performance seen in the prior quarter, on soaring sales of its Simponi and Remicade treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, Stelara for psoriasis, its Zytiga drug for prostate cancer and other medicines.

But sales of the company's medical devices were hurt by patients' continuing reluctance to undergo elective surgeries and other procedures in a weak economy. Division sales fell 2 percent to $6.93 billion.

"The weakness in devices appears to be broad based, with not just one thing bringing them down," Edward Jones analyst Judson Clark said, adding that the unit's weakest category was medical diagnostics. All things considered, Clark said J&J is one of the best-performing companies in healthcare.

J&J's shares have risen almost 30 percent for the year to date, compared with a 17 percent gain for the ARCA Pharmaceutical Index of large U.S. and European drugmakers.

^^^^^^For graphic on Q3 results, see http://link.reuters.com/cud83v

Chief Financial Officer Dominic Caruso, on a conference call with industry analysts on Tuesday, said there has been a pickup in overall economic activity, "but certainly not to the level we had hoped."

Caruso said J&J was interested in acquiring or licensing new prescription drugs to sustain strong growth of its top-performing business. He said J&J was also on the hunt for new medical devices, including those that treat structural heart defects, if they can be bought at reasonable prices.

The diversified healthcare company on Tuesday reported net earnings of $2.98 billion, or $1.04 per share, for the quarter. That compared with $2.97 billion, or $1.05 per share in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, J&J earned $1.36 per share. Analysts on average, had expected $1.32 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company took special charges of about $900 million in the quarter, related largely to legal expenses and merger-related costs.

Sales of consumer products edged up 0.8 percent to $3.61 billion, held back by disappointing demand for oral care and wound-care products. Within the consumer division, sales of over-the-counter medicines rose 6.4 percent to $975 million, as recalled brands such as Tylenol and Motrin began returning to U.S. drugstore shelves.

J&J over the past three years has recalled dozens of OTC products made at its plants in Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico that were shown to have foreign particles or incorrect concentrations of active ingredients. Costly plant upgrades are still under way, as J&J strives to make the affected products at other plants.

Overall company sales rose 3.1 percent to $17.58 billion in the quarter, above Wall Street expectations of $17.46 billion, but would have risen 4.7 percent if not for the stronger dollar.

J&J said it expects earnings this year, excluding special items, of $5.44 to $5.49 per share, up from its prior view of $5.40 to $5.47. The company earned $5.10 per share last year.

J&J's stock rose 35 cents to $90.15 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, amid a moderate decline for the drug sector.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Alden Bentley and Maureen Bavdek)

‘G.M.A.’ Beats ‘Today’ Over a Full Season

As he pushed “Good Morning America” through a heated ratings competition with NBC’s “Today” show, Ben Sherwood, the president of ABC News, had three goals: first, to win just one week; second, to win one of the television industry’s so-called sweeps months; and third, to win for a full television season. He called it “the trifecta” in conversations with colleagues.

And on Friday, ABC achieved it: a full-season win for “G.M.A.” for the first time since the early 1990s.

G.M.A.’s lead over “Today” has been acknowledged several times already, both by the network and by viewers. Still, the full-season triumph is something that ABC chose to trumpet on Friday as the network news division positioned itself as one that is growing, or at least holding steady, at a time of fracturing television audiences.

The 2012-13 television season, as measured by Nielsen, started in mid-September 2012 and ended earlier this month. The final seasonal viewership figures for the morning shows were released on Friday. They reflected a once-in-a-generation change: “G.M.A.,” which had lost to “Today” for 852 straight weeks before notching a one-week win in April 2012, has taken a decisive lead among total viewers, with an average of 5.3 million viewers on a typical weekday. That is nearly 700,000 more than the “Today” show, which had an average of 4.6 million.

One season earlier, “Today” had 5.1 million viewers and “G.M.A.” had a little under 4.9 million.

“CBS This Morning,” which was rebooted in early 2012 and is now hosted by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, had an average viewership of 2.77 million. For CBS, that is a big improvement: one season earlier, the network had 2.44 million viewers in the mornings.

Among 25- to 54-year-olds, the demographic that really determines success or failure for morning shows, the ratings race remains tight. “G.M.A.” had almost two million viewers, about 85,000 more than “Today.”

According to ABC, “G.M.A.” has not led “Today” for a full season since the 1993-94 season.

Some, though not all, of “G.M.A.’s” gains can be attributed to missteps by the “Today” show, including the dismissal last year of Ann Curry, a longtime member of that show’s cast. “Today” is now trying to lure former viewers back; it has resisted the temptation to dismiss any other cast members, and has instead added two, Willie Geist and Carson Daly. This month it introduced a remodeled studio and a new graphics package.

Some of “G.M.A.’s” gains can also be attributed to content choices. The show has become more entertaining in the last few years, sometimes eschewing serious news for stories about sensational court cases, celebrities and trends, especially after 7:15 a.m. While its rivals dismiss the show as too tabloid-oriented, ABC defends its coverage as a reflection of what viewers want to see when they wake up.

“G.M.A.” has tried not to get too comfortable in first place. Through a spokesman on Friday, Mr. Sherwood said, “Our immediate goals are to keep building on our strengths, to stay hungry and humble, and to keep our eyes on the prize.”

When the 2012-13 season was starting, the “G.M.A.” co-host Robin Roberts was in the hospital, undergoing a grueling bone marrow transplant. In February, she returned to the show on a part-time basis, but it was not until this month that she resumed hosting full time.

While the mornings are the most lucrative part of the day for the network news divisions, the evenings remain essential as well, and there NBC ended the season ahead, as it has for 17 years. “NBC Nightly News” had more than 8.3 million viewers on an average night, 700,000 more than ABC’s “World News.” ABC has crept quite close in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic, however, and in July actually beat the NBC newscast for one week. NBC has avoided a repeat loss since then.

Business Briefing | Restaurants: Profit at Darden Slips but Beats Forecasts

Testimony in a stop-and-frisk trial has pointed to disturbing conduct by the police command.

Gary Gutting responds to readers’ theories on whether consciousness can be explained by science.

Singer Jeremih Beats Down Dorion From Bet College Hill

A few days ago, a BRUTAL fight broke out between Dorion and R&B singer Jeremih at the LA hot spot Supperclub.

According to the streets, Dorion had some kind of problem with Jeremih and asked him to CATCH A FADE outside. Bad move. Jeremih reportedly popped him in the face and then began stomping him out. And we’re told that once Dorion was on the ground . . . Jeremih’s people got in and gave Dorion some FOOT ACTION too.

According to our snitch, Dorion started BEGGING FOR HIS LIFE . . . and eventually Jeremih and his peep got tried and left him on the side of the road.

The below pics are the result of the BRUTAL BEATING that Dorion suffered. It’s not clear if Dorion plans on taking any LEGAL ACTION against Jeremih.