(Adds background; updates share movement)
Oct 2 (Reuters) - Dialysis clinic operator DaVita Inc
said the U.S. Attorney's Office in St. Louis dropped a seven-year-long civil and criminal investigation into its financial and marketing practices and that no charges would be filed.
The investigation, one of the several involving the company, was initiated in 2005 and covered DaVita's joint ventures, financial relationships with physicians and services provided to patients, and included the administration and billing of DaVita's anemia drug, Epogen.
"The (U.S. Attorney's Office) closed its investigation without filing any charges, without demanding any payments and without seeking any changes in company policies," DaVita said.
DaVita, the largest operator of dialysis clinics in the United States, is more than 10 percent owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc .
DaVita received a subpoena in May 2010 from the Office of Inspector General in Dallas, Texas, which also sought documents related to its joint ventures and financial relationships with physicians for the period from January 2005 to May 2010.
In August 2011, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado began an investigation which overlapped with the 2010 Texas inquiry, but focused on the period from January 2006 to September 2011.
DaVita has also been subjected to a government investigation into payments for infusion drugs covered by the Medicaid health program for the poor in New York.
Shares of the Denver, Colorado-based company were up nearly 1 percent to $104.13 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting By Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal)
((pallavi.ail@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800)(Reuters Messaging: pallavi.ail.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: DAVITA INQUIRY/DOJ