For the growing number of overweight individuals sharing with us their disappointment that diet pill alli is not the "miracle pill" they were seeking, today's decision by European regulators to leave diet drug Acomplia (rimonabant) on the market can only be seen as a glimmer of good news.

True, the decision of Sanofi-Aventis to withdraw its application to market rimonabant as Zimulti in the United States -- in the face of safety concerns linked to depression and suicidality -- means rimonabant will not be available in U.S. pharmacies until at least 2010.

But in deciding to continue to permit Acomplia to be sold throughout the European Union, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) virtually insured that enough people will take the diet drug over the next two years to provide the FDA with all the data it will need for approval.

Meanwhile, the one thing that nobody questions about rimonabant is that it works: a quarter of participants who took it for a year in clinical trials lost approximately 10 percent of their body weight, and about half lost 5 percent or more of their body weight.

In contrast, many of those who lined up to pre-order alli are now expressing disappointment at how little weight they lost, and are also complaining that the price is pretty steep for a drug that not only is not a "miracle pill," but comes with some pretty unpleasant side-effects.

GlaxoSmithKline, of course, was very straight-forward in telling purchasers that alli in conjunction with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise program can help dieters lose 50 percent more weight than they would otherwise (ie, 15 pounds instead of 10 pounds) -- hardly a formula for an overnight miracle.

But hope for a "miracle pill" springs eternal.