These tests, more common than they apparently need to be, are awfully expensive for so-called routine procedures. Think thousand-dollar oil changes, hundred-dollar wiper blades or Bill Clinton haircuts.

The most common offense appears to be a complete blood cell count during a routine physical, which added up to nearly $33 million in costs annually.

The study also points to other overused – and expensive – tests such as CT scans, MRIs and Pap tests for cervical cancer in teens. Among the pediatric set, a lot of doctors apparently scribble out antibiotic 'scrips for sore throats like they're handing out, yep, Halloween chocolates. And, no doubt at the behest of anxious parents, doctors also appear to love those expensive head exams for kids who get a konk on the head. I'm almost embarrassed just typing that last sentence.

But the single biggest expense comes from doctors prescribing brand-name drugs rather than their generic counterparts, accounting for $5.8 billion alone.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not standing here, coughing, and pointing a finger at the doctors. Although, just once, I'd love to get somebody like Gregory House the next time I pull something playing basketball.

No, it's a shared responsibility. It goes right back to better doctor-patient communication and all of us acting more like health care consumers and less like victims of the health care system.