Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co. lost a bid in the Canadian Supreme Court to put a Vioxx lawsuit on hold in Ontario, while it won a ruling that prevents another case from moving forward as a class action in Saskatchewan.

The refusal by Canada’s high court today to take up any appeals was a mixed ruling for the drugmaker and separate groups of consumers suing over allegations that Merck’s painkiller Vioxx caused heart attacks and strokes.

In the case in Saskatchewan, the Supreme Court upheld the first decertification of a Canadian class-action, or group, lawsuit involving personal-injury claims against a pharmaceutical company. The court also turned down Merck’s constitutional challenge to the Saskatchewan complaint.

The request to put the Ontario suit on hold was filed before the suit was certified by a judge as a class action, Ronald Rogers, a Merck spokesman, said in a phone interview. The company’s appeal of the Ontario certification order is still being pursued in the province’s courts, he said.

“Merck will continue to argue against class certification of personal injury claims in Canada because each plaintiff’s case is unique,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “Evidence will show that Merck acted responsibly.”

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, pulled Vioxx from the market in 2004 after an independent study showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The company agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle lawsuits by thousands of U.S. plaintiffs. That settlement doesn’t include plaintiffs in Canada and other countries.

Merck was sued on behalf of all Canadian Vioxx users, except those in Saskatchewan and Quebec, in Ontario on Oct. 1, 2004. A separate lawsuit was filed in Saskatchewan. Both were certified as class-action suits in 2008. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal quashed the certification order in that province March 30. The company is also being sued in Quebec.

The high court dismissals bode well for Canadians suing because it will be simpler to press ahead with the lawsuits now, said Michael Peerless, a lawyer for the Ontario plaintiffs.

“They kind of won,” Peerless said, referring to Merck, “but so did the plaintiffs.”

An Ontario court has never refused to certify a class- action of this type, Peerless said. He said the request to put the Ontario suit on hold, which could have delayed the case by another year, is now gone, and courts don’t have to deal with the issue of competing lawsuits. Saskatchewan residents will be covered in the Ontario suit, he said.

“They’ll actually have to focus on the issue now,” Peerless said. “Be careful what you wish for.”

The cases are Between Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. and Mignacca, 33225, and Between Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. and Wuttunee, 32905. Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa).

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Toronto at jschneider5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2009 15:32 EDT