Ford: 94 taurus distributor, taurus 3, cam shaft

Question
My Taurus (3.0L GL V6) died on the freeway just yards from the on ramp.  I had it towed to a local shop as I could see no visible reason for the breakdown.  He called once to say what I suspected, possible ignitional module.  He called later to say the distributor teeth were gone, and he needed a working distributor.  He found one used for $35, I ok'd it.  He told me if the cam shaft was bad, it would tear the distributor right back out, although there was no visible wear on the cam gear.  Can you please advise me if I am getting taken for a ride here? and if so, what else could be the problem?  (no spark to the plugs, but ALL fuses are intact, new plugs and wired, oil change less than a month ago, all panel lights come on and appear to be working)  Thank you and I appreciate your help before hand.

Answer
It could be as simple as a bad coil.  But distrubuter do shear teeth from being old.  We had that happen in my husband's 83 ranger stuck in a good used distrubuter and she runs like a champ.  The cam has not yet killed it and we put it in 18 months ago.  As for no spark like I said could be bad coil or just a bad used disturbuter.  Also could be a bad coil wire.