A pill dispensing system (10, 100) for monitoring compliant receipt of pills by a patient, comprising a base unit (20, 200) having an area (11, 110) adapted to receive a pill container, a pill container (30, 300) comprising an array of a plurality of pill compartments (12, 120), at least one pill compartment (12, 120) containing at least one pill and said area (11, 110) comprising an array of a plurality of compartments (18, 180a to 180f) adapted to receive at least one of said pill compartments (12, 120), said base unit (20, 200) comprising a microprocessor and a power supply, said pill container (30, 300) comprising at least one breakable closure (13, 130) sealing at least one of said pill compartments, some means for detecting the breaking of the breakable closure (13, 130) of a respective one of the pill compartments and for generating a first pill compartment opening signal on the microprocessor upon breaking of the breakable closure (13, 130) of a respective one of the pill compartments, some means for detecting the removal of the at least one pill from one of the pill compartment upon the breaking of the breakable closure (13, 130) of the respective one of the pill compartments (12, 120) and for generating a second pill compartment opening signal on the microprocessor upon the removal of the at least one pill from one of the pill compartments (12, 120), characterised in that said means for detecting the removal of the at least one pill from one of the pill compartment (12, 120) comprising a plurality of optical detectors, each optical detector comprising an emitter and a receiver and being associated with a respective one of the pill compartments (12, 120) of the pill container (30, 300) when the pill container is received by said base unit (20, 200). a base unit (20, 200) having an area (11, 110) adapted to receive a pill container, a pill container (30, 300) comprising an array of a plurality of pill compartments (12, 120), at least one pill compartment (12, 120) containing at least one pill and said area (11, 110) comprising an array of a plurality of compartments (18, 180a to 180f) adapted to receive at least one of said pill compartments (12, 120), said base unit (20, 200) comprising a microprocessor and a power supply, said pill container (30, 300) comprising at least one breakable closure (13, 130) sealing at least one of said pill compartments, some means for detecting the breaking of the breakable closure (13, 130) of a respective one of the pill compartments and for generating a first pill compartment opening signal on the microprocessor upon breaking of the breakable closure (13, 130) of a respective one of the pill compartments, some means for detecting the removal of the at least one pill from one of the pill compartment upon the breaking of the breakable closure (13, 130) of the respective one of the pill compartments (12, 120) and for generating a second pill compartment opening signal on the microprocessor upon the removal of the at least one pill from one of the pill compartments (12, 120), characterised in that said means for detecting the removal of the at least one pill from one of the pill compartment (12, 120) comprising a plurality of optical detectors, each optical detector comprising an emitter and a receiver and being associated with a respective one of the pill compartments (12, 120) of the pill container (30, 300) when the pill container is received by said base unit (20, 200).