The families of people who died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease contracted from transplants of dura mater, along with three surviving victims, submitted letters Tuesday to two courts urging the national government to settle damages suits quickly.

The letters were submitted to the Tokyo and Otsu district courts, where the two suits have been filed, in response to the courts' opinion that the government and two pharmaceutical firms are responsible. The suits seek a combined 2.9 billion yen in damages.

The two district courts have found the government and B. Braun Melsungen AG, a German medical equipment manufacturer that supplied the dura mater, and Nihon BSS, the Japanese importer, responsible for spreading CJD in Japan and urged them to settle as soon as possible.

The courts decided the government overlooked a U.S. report on the first case of CJD contracted from the transplant of infected human dura mater in 1978, making it responsible to the CJD patients.

On Friday, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said the government will respond to the calls for a settlement by Thursday, when negotiations with the plaintiffs are due to begin.

Because 25 of the 28 victims have already died, they cannot afford a further delay, according to the plaintiffs' letter of opinion.

It also said the government should admit its responsibility as the perpetrator, apologize to those affected by the incident, begin work immediately to help the remaining victims, and take concrete measures to prevent further incidents of this kind.

The courts have said they will hand down a ruling in March if a settlement isn't reached.