The nature of catastrophe is after all reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins destroys wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event - not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics - then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light.
And they didn't have to get into a lot of legal speak or talk ER terms they were real people. I think that's why so many actresses were attracted to it. And it was just about problems that you could identify with so much right off the bat.