In this edition: Maternal mortality, forever chemicals and big pharma deals.

Maternal Death Rates Surge in the U.S. The number of women who died during pregnancy or shortly after rose 40% to 1,205 in 2021, according to CDC data -- the highest rate since 1965. Maternal death rates are higher in the U.S. than any other high-income country, and Covid-19 made it worse. Read more.

• America's Childbirth Crisis: The Fight to Save Whitney (Read)
• I Gave Birth. The Most Dangerous Part Came After. (Read)

EPA to limit "forever chemicals" in drinking water: The agency is proposing maximum allowable levels for two compounds in a class of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Called forever chemicals because they take a long time to break down, they were used for decades in clothing, firefighting foam and other consumer and industrial products. Read more.

• What to Know About PFAS and Your Health (Read)
• 🎧 One Town's Fight Against Forever Chemicals (Listen)

Think we understand the pandemic virus? Think again. Three years after Covid-19 sufaced in the U.S., scientists say there's still a lot we don't understand. Researchers don’t yet know enough about how the virus might change or how long immunity lasts to be certain who should get future vaccines or how often. The unknowns could have public-health consequences in the years ahead, virus experts said. Read more.

The surprise villain of U.S. diets: sandwiches. Sandwiches are the number one source of sodium and saturated fat in Americans’ diets, according to federal data. Nutritionists, doctors and public-health officials are trying to nudge people to make their sandwiches healthier. Think, less processed meat, more lettuce. Read more.

• Science-Backed Strategies That Will Actually Help You Eat Better (Read)

Prostate cancer patients could forgo radical treatment. Men with localized prostate cancer could safely choose surveillance over surgery or radiation, according to a study of 1,600 men in the U.K. Mortality was low whether patients received radiotherapy, a prostatectomy or active monitoring, with similar death rates across all three groups. Read more.

• More Women With Breast Cancer Could Skip Harsh Radiation (Read)

What's wrong with doctor-rating websites. Most lack information on convictions, medical malpractice claims and other disciplinary actions, research shows. And doctors who have passed away can still linger on sites. Read more.

Pfizer's $43 billion deal to buy a cancer biotech. The agreement to buy Seagen expands Pfizer's cancer footprint at a time when it is looking to offset expected sales declines. It's also an early sign that, despite the threat of close antitrust examinations and higher interest rates, big pharmaceutical companies are poised for heavy deal-making this year. Read more.

• Why Seagen Was a Takeover Target (Read)
• Big Pharma Executives Say They Are Hunting for Deals Again (Read)
• 🎥 Pfizer CEO on the Post-Covid Roadmap for Pharma (Watch)

Biotech and Silicon Valley Bank: About 12% of the failed bank's client deposits of $173 billion came from the life sciences and healthcare sector. This week, many of those companies struggled to get access to their funds in a scramble to make payroll. (Read)

VA to cover Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi. Veterans Affairs will be the first major insurer to cover Esai Co.'s new Alzheimer's drug since it was approved earlier this year. Leqembi is expected to have relatively small sales unless Medicare modifies a decision that denies routine coverage of drugs in this class. Read more.

Drugmakers to slash insulin prices. Sanofi and Novo Nordisk this week joined Eli Lilly in announcing they would cut the list prices of their insulin drugs, some by more than 70%. Sanofi also said it would cap a Lantus patient’s monthly out-of-pocket cost at $35. Read more.

• U.S. Names First Drugs to Face Medicare Price-Hike Penalty (Read)

This newsletter was compiled by the WSJ’s Health & Science team. Follow us on Twitter @WSJHealth and @WSJScience. Email us by replying to this newsletter.