Last week, nine physician specialty societies announced a list of 45 treatments and tests that doctors should prescribe far less often or stop doing entirely. Each specialty society’s list is part of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Choosing Wisely campaign, a long overdue initiative intended to get physicians to think twice before giving patients tests, drugs and other treatments that aren’t going to help the doctor diagnose the problem or help the patient get better.

Almost as bad as flying these days is owning airline stocks. According to the industry's leading trade group, Airlines for America, U.S. airlines have lost $50 billion over the past 10 years. Even as the economy recovers, the latest figures show airlines were still earning less than half a penny on every dollar of revenue in 2011, which is well below the amount needed to replace its aging fleet or maintain current levels of service. Even before the recent bankruptcy filing by American, the value of all publicly traded U.S. airline stocks was less than that of Starbucks.

Imagine yourself in front of your computer, looking up information about a drug prescribed by your doctor. Your Internet search tells you that there is a cheaper, maybe even a generic version available, but you have just paid top dollar for the brand name drug. You also learn that another treatment may be safer than the prescription you just filled. Now imagine you discover that your doctor gets paid by the manufacturer to promote the drug to other doctors.

Imagine you are sitting in first class on a plane, waiting for the plane to push off from the gate, when you see two people in uniform, the pilot and co-pilot, dash from the Jetway into the cockpit. A few seconds later, a voice comes over the intercom, saying, “This is Captain Jones, please be sure your seat belts are fastened. We’re ready for takeoff.” What crucial event could not have occurred in this scenario? The pilot and co-pilot did not go through their checklist of safety measures. Fuel tanks full? Check! Flaps up? Check!