I see your point. 22's have their place, IMO. The good Dr's experience proves this; he might have left that little revolver where it was as an afterthought just because it was cheap. (I can't help but wonder if "someone" suggested it to him...) I gave my elderly dad my Taurus .22wmr revolver, and I'm toying with the idea of one of the little .22wmr revolvers from NAA, myself. "Have a gun..."
About 15 years ago, a friend of mine had a chronograph and we decided to test one of those with .22 and .22mag cylinders. I think it had a one inch barrel.
Of the 3 the short produced the highest velocity by a small margin and they were all three within a couple of foot pounds of the same energy.
Of course the mag might have killed someone by just the awesome blast.