It wasn't irrelevant. He and Hammond had a tied narrative arc. His death was the story. The actual death line was a fleeting disappointment, but the plot point is important. Hammond had warned Hammond before the construction of the park about how dangerous it was, he warned it while he was there, everything he said would come to fruition did (in concept, bc he didnt give details). Then he even had a heart to heart discussion with Hammond where he told Hammond they were both not getting off the island and were going to die there, implying soon, and they did. Having Malcolm survive breaks a major arc in the story, and its very obviously how the original book ending is supposed to be. He can later retcon it if he wants (and was paid to do so), but its very clear that in the original JP, Malcolm died.