(September 13, 2019, 1:49 PM EDT) -- PHILADELPHIA — A split Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Sept. 12 that the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA) does not prohibit investors who opt out from class actions from bringing individual actions, reversing a federal district court’s dismissal of four investor opt-out actions against Merck & Co. Inc. over the drug maker’s alleged misstatements regarding clinical trial results for two of its cholesterol treatment drugs (North Sound Capital LLC, et al. v. Merck & Co. Inc., et al., No. 18-2317, GIC Private Limited v. Merck & Co. Inc., et al., No. 18-2318, GIC Private Limited v. Merck & Co., et al., No. 18-2319, and North Sound Capital LLC, et al. v. Merck & Co. Inc., et al., No. 18-2320, 3rd Cir.; 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27518)....