Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

Patients affected by one of the largest hepatitis C outbreaks in U.S. history recently reached a settlement with the healthcare system they blame for the incident.

Trinity Health and its hospital in Minot, ND, agreed in principle on a settlement with 21 victims of the 2013 hepatitis C outbreak, attorneys for the system said in a recent court filing. The document asks a state judge to dismiss the lawsuit submitted against Trinity by the victims, stating that a settlement had been reached confidentially.

The settlement has yet to be finalized, an attorney for the victims told the Associated Press.

Attorneys also requested that the remaining legal battle between Trinity and ManorCare Health Services — the operator of the nursing home where more than 40 residents were infected during the outbreak — return to federal court for resolution.

Federal court, where the case between Trinity and ManorCare originally began, “has a greater familiarity with the parties’ dispute” and would be better suited to handle the case now that the victims are no longer involved, according to court documents.

Twenty-one victims of the outbreak dropped their original lawsuit against ManorCare in March and teamed up with the provider to sue Trinity. Then Trinity filed a response the following month, stating the jointly-filed lawsuit didn’t follow legal procedures.

ManorCare maintains that the outbreak — which accounts for a quarter of all U.S. cases of hepatitis C since 2008 — and the resulting legal proceedings resulted in the facility being sold for $15 million less than it was worth.