This paper shows that the role of risky alternatives can be greatly re
duced in the elicitation procedures of multiattribute utility. This re
duction can be achieved by invoking methods from additive conjoint mea
surement; it is desirable because risky choices involve more cognitive
problems, thus more biases and unreliability, than riskless ones. Exi
sting results of multiattribute utility are generalized to obtain a co
mplete axiomatization of the new elicitation procedure. The approach h
as been developed in a medical decision analysis project to advise on
the choice between surgery and radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer. (C)
1994 Academic Press, Inc.