Eli Lilly had a case of the Mondays ... 

Eli Lilly’s decision to sell a half-priced version of its best-selling insulin, Humalog, seemed like a stellar PR move for the company, which is facing no less than three congressional investigations about its pricing of insulin. But by midday Monday, it became abundantly clear that lawmakers in both parties weren’t willing to cut Lilly much slack, and in some cases, I think the decision may have backfired entirely.

Here’s some of my favorite lawmaker reactions:

Senate Finance Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) insinuated that the move was “PR acrobatics,” and even said that the Senate Finance Committee will investigate Lilly’s decision “to offer a generic version of a several decade old drug.”

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) argued that Lilly offering a so-called “authorized generic” only “raises the question how in the world can you justify the price for the non-generic?” He also called Lilly’s decision “exhibit A of how broken the pricing system is.”

Finance Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) signaled to drug makers that this wouldn’t shield them from scrutiny. “Looking fwd to getting THOROUGH responses from insulin cos to letters we sent,” Grassley tweeted, referencing the letters he and Wyden sent last month to Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk requesting a slew of sensitive information about insulin pricing.

Ways and Means health subcommittee chair Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) alleged Lilly’s decision was “designed to strengthen Lilly’s market dominance, maintain consumer brand loyalty, and whenever possible to promote the brand over the generic.”

Diabetes Caucus co-chair Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) likewise said Congress would continue to investigate insulin makers. She also called on other companies to take similar steps, “because what we have learned through this announcement is that lowering the cost of this important drug is much more doable than previously thought.”

I’ll also flag my colleague Ed Silverman’s story — he asks, smartly, whether this move will actually appease Lilly’s critics. (No surprise, after all those lawmaker reactions: It doesn’t look like it.)

Lilly’s decision isn’t the only insulin news I’m watching. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) wrote to Gottlieb Friday urging the agency to reconsider a set of policies that some say have unnecessarily delayed cheaper insulins from coming to market. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I wrote about this issue for STAT a few weeks ago. The story prompted a tweetstorm from Gottlieb, who — though he didn’t reference my article directly — pushed back on my argument that FDA deserves some of the blame for the fact that there’s no generic insulin on the market right now. (I see you, Dr. Gottlieb.)

Also worth watching: Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) is trying to drum up support for his “Insulin Access for All Act,” which would eliminate cost sharing on insulin for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. “Diabetes is an epidemic, and we must ensure access to affordable medication for this disease,” Rush wrote in a recent “Dear Colleague” letter.