The timeline shows that 20 students developed this outcome at varying times during the semester. The outcome was defined as the development of the first episode of cold or flu-like symptoms in a given student during the semester.
The instructor wanted to measure the cumulative incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (cold and flu) during the semester among the 80 students who enrolled in the class in January.
Although the names of the deceased are changed to protect their privacy, the choice to make their final moments a source of entertainment reflects a disturbing lack of sensitivity. But its real focus is on exploiting the unorthodox ways that people have died over the years. The show offers limited scientific information about how the body can fatally react to certain things. And, of course, it's all accompanied by disturbing images - both real and reenacted - of gruesome injuries and people in the moments just before their death. Each tale is accompanied by graphic novel-type images and tongue-in-cheek titles (for example, the story of a man who froze in a meat locker is titled "Freeze Died") to add humor, and some of the commentary offers ironic speculations about what people were thinking and/or the lessons they learned while they lay dying.
This morbid, campy series presents each death story in a way that's intended to be both voyeuristic and amusing.