We granted certiorari in this products liability case to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred by holding that the appellant, Linda McCombs, could not assert certain arguments on appeal concerning the “learned intermediary” doctrine because she had not specifically asserted them below.1 Because appellee Synthes Spine Company “Synthes Spine” moved for and was granted summary judgment on McCombs’s failure to warn claim based on the learned intermediary doctrine, and because the arguments raised on appeal by McCombs concerning that doctrine were arguments that the trial court necessarily had to resolve adversely to McCombs to grant summary judgment to Synthes Spine, we reverse the Court of Appeals’s judgment and remand the case to it for consideration of McCombs’s arguments. 1. Under the learned intermediary doctrine, the manufacturer of a prescription drug or medical device does not have a duty to warn the patient of the dangers involved with the product, but instead has a duty to warn the patient’s doctor, who acts as a learned intermediary between the patient and the manufacturer.2 The rationale for the doctrine is that the treating physician is in a better position to warn the patient than the manufacturer, in that the ” ‘decision to employ prescription medication or medical devices involves professional assessment of medical risks in light of the physician’s knowledge of a patient’s particular need and susceptibilities.’ “ 3 Finally, as Synthes Spine concedes, under the learned intermediary doctrine, the manufacturer’s warnings to the physician must be adequate or reasonable under the circumstances of the case.4
2. In the present case, McCombs underwent spinal surgery, which involved, among other things, the installation of a plate device to stabilize her spine.5 The plate, however, subsequently fractured, and McCombs brought this products liability action against Synthes Spine, as well as other defendants. Relying on the learned intermediary doctrine, Synthes Spine moved for summary judgment on McCombs’s failure to warn claim. More specifically, Synthes Spine contended that its warning to McCombs’s doctor was sufficient to satisfy its duty to warn, and that it had no duty to also warn McCombs. In response to the summary judgment motion, McCombs did not contend that the warning to her doctor inadequately conveyed the dangers associated with the use of the plate. Based on the learned intermediary doctrine, the trial court granted summary judgment to Synthes Spine on McCombs’s failure to warn claim. On appeal to the Court of Appeals, McCombs contended that a jury question existed as to the adequacy of the warning that was given to her doctor. The Court of Appeals, however, declined to address this contention on the ground that McCombs did not specifically make this argument in the trial court. We subsequently granted McCombs petition for certiorari to address this holding of the Court of Appeals.
