A pill dispensing system (10) for monitoring compliant receipt of pills by a patient, comprising a base unit (20) having an area (11) adapted to receive a pill container (30), the base unit (20) comprising a microprocessor (24) and a power supply (27), the pill container (30) comprising a plurality of breakable closures (13) each sealing a respective one of the pill compartments (12), each breakable closure (13) comprising a breakable conductor (14) being adapted to break upon breaking of the breakable closure (13) of a respective one of the pill compartments (12) and to generate a first pill compartment opening signal on the microprocessor (24), being characterized in that said base unit (20) further comprises a plurality of optical detectors (15), each optical detector (15) being associated with a respective one of the pill compartments (12) of the pill container (30) and being adapted to generate a second pill compartment opening signal on the microprocessor (24) upon the breaking of the breakable closure (13) of a respective one of the pill compartments (12).
