Smoking ban credited for heart attack drop

"Anti-smoking agencies have for years fought to keep children from picking up smoking, to get smokers to quit and for everyone to understand the risks. With the help of a 2004 statewide smoke-free workplace law, advocates can claim a victory in saving an estimated nearly 600 lives each year. 'They are amazing findings,' said Judith Coykendall, the program manager of Partners for Clean Air at Seven Hills Behavioral Health, based in New Bedford, MA. The state Department of Public Health, which released the study Wednesday, said the number of deaths statewide from heart attacks dropped considerably - by about 577 deaths a year - after 2004, when the ban went into effect. In 2003, according to the report, 3,528 people in Massachusetts died of a heart attack. In 2006, the number fell to 2,461 - a drop of 30 percent