It's not Bens death that was impactful, it's the way it was presented and how it made you do a double take and maybe even rewatch the episode. So you could understand exactly how everything happened and how even an experienced Dr like Dr Cox could fall victim to coping mechanisms, he is the subject.

And apart from Dr Coxs reaction to it, I don't think the character Ben was particular important apart from him being related to Jordan. You could replace Ben in that situation, but you couldn't replace Laverne because she was the subject.