Taylor v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

¶1 Manufacturers have a duty to provide warnings to consumers about the risks of their products pursuant to the Washington product liability act (WPLA), chapter 7.72 RCW. In this case, a manufacturer sold a surgical device to a hospital, which credentialed some of its physicians to perform surgery with the device. The manufacturer’s warnings regarding that device are at the heart of this case. We are asked to decide whether the manufacturer owed a duty to warn the hospital that purchased the device. The manufacturer argues that since it warned the physician who performed the surgery, it had…