Washington ( CNN ) -- A prominent Food and Drug Administration researcher sharply criticized a safety study by the manufacturer of the diabetes drug Avandia on Tuesday as an FDA panel weighed whether to yank the drug from the market . The study , dubbed RECORD by GlaxoSmithKline , came under attack throughout the first of two days of hearings by the 33-member FDA advisory committee . `` You ca n't trust it , and if we do trust it , we 're engaging in the willing suspension of disbelief , '' said Dr. David Graham , the FDA scientist who first flagged deadly side effects of the painkiller Vioxx . Graham 's report followed a strongly worded FDA report last week that called the RECORD study `` inappropriate and biased . '' It accused Glaxo of repeatedly submitting sloppy data and failing to follow up on reports of problems among patients , including deaths . But Dr. Murray Stewart , Glaxo 's vice president for clinical development , said the company 's studies `` provide the most robust and reliable data '' to assess Avandia 's safety -- and those studies have found `` no evidence to suggest '' the drug increases the risk of heart attack or stroke in its users . The FDA panel could vote Wednesday on whether to remove the drug , which is used to control blood sugar levels in diabetics , from the market . Glaxo says several trials have shown Avandia is safe , but its usage has fallen sharply since a 2007 study that linked ito the an increased risk of heart attacks and other related problems . Published estimates indicate sales of Avandia have dropped from about $ 3 billion in 2006 to about $ 1 billion . One of the committee members , Dr. Sanjay Kaul , urged caution `` before drawing any definitive conclusions '' based on data he called `` fragile . '' That drew a blunt response from Dr. Steven Nissen , the Cleveland Clinic cardiologist who authored the 2007 study and presented an updated , critical assessment of the drug Tuesday . `` Whose fault is that ? '' Nissen asked . `` We have a drug that has been on the market for 11 years . The company had every opportunity to do large-outcome trials , adequately powered and properly run , to answer this question . They did n't do it . '' In a study published in June , Graham also found patients on Avandia are more likely to suffer stroke , heart failure or premature death than patients who used another drug . And he said the RECORD study would have been dismissed as `` garbage '' if it had been used to seek the drug 's original approval . `` It would n't even be presented , '' he said . And as the FDA panel prepared to meet , a Senate committee added to the controversy by releasing documents its leaders said show Glaxo `` failed to publish studies that found serious health risks associated with Avandia in a timely manner and actively promoted the drug despite the known safety concerns . '' The documents , which the Senate Finance Committee provided to the FDA , include studies that date back to 2000 , the committee 's Democratic chairman and ranking Republican said . `` Americans have a right to know there are serious health risks associated with Avandia and GlaxoSmithKline had a responsibility to tell them . Patients trust drug companies with their health and their lives and GlaxoSmithKline abused that trust , '' Montana Sen. Max Baucus , the committee 's chairman , said in a statement accompanying the documents . In February , the same committee released a report criticizing the FDA 's handling of Avandia and saying the FDA has been `` too cozy '' with drug makers . But in an e-mail , Glaxo spokeswoman Mary Anne Rhyne told CNN the new documents were `` a small subset '' of millions of pages the company released in connection with lawsuits over the drugs . `` They include drafts and other documents taken out of context , which therefore are incomplete and misleading , '' Rhyne said . `` The documents do not offer new clinically relevant scientific information , and do not provide the full extent of GSK 's studies and evaluation of Avandia . '' Rhyne said the company `` has been diligent in providing its safety data on Avandia to the FDA '' and publishing results in medical journals and online . CNN 's Caleb Hellerman and Dr. Sanjay Gupta contributed to this report .
NEW : A researcher blamed the company for `` fragile '' data . Glaxo says its research shows Avandia is safe . Senators say the drug 's manufacturer buried warnings . Score: 6