This is a problem that's existed for a long time. I've mentioned it in
passing, but it deserves a dedicated post.

Set up a two- or three-column page. Place a graphic that overlaps the
gutters and give it horizontal padding. Fill the columns with text and
format a paragraph with a drop cap adjacent to the graphic on the right
side. The text below the first line of the drop cap will usually be
misplaced, typically falling on top of the cap. In some cases, the
entire paragraph will adopt the line spacing of the drop cap parading
double- or triple-spaced down the page. Similar things can happen to
text on the left side of a graphic, but it works more often on that
side. The last 4.1 beta and the last official 4.x release behave a
little differently, but they both do it. The beta isn't quite as
fussy---at least not on the last document I did.

I should mention that my drop caps are in a different font family than
the main text. I doubt that makes a difference, but anything's possible
I suppose.

HB