Hello Grilledguy,

Actually, my comparison makes perfect sense.

The precise mechanism described by the writer is one in which profit motive underlies the ongoing existence of a deadly product.

That is EAXCLY the same mechanism that exists for cigarettes. 

And yes, per capita, cigarettes account for about THIRTY TIMES the rate of deaths for Canadians as do gun murders for Americans. Sorry, but that statistical fact is of such an enormous magnitude that it behooves the writer to include it, for background and balance, in an article that otherwise paints a picture of America somehow being the only place this happens.

As for the idea of government steadily dropping rates of lung cancer in Canada! Ha! From the news:

"Lung cancer death rates in Canada are among the highest in the world, especially among women, a new report shows."

"Death rates remain stubbornly high for women. Each year lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer combined."