Final answer:
Medical records of patients in government-owned hospitals are not available for public inspection under state sunshine laws due to privacy exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act and similar legislation that protect sensitive personal information.
Step-by-step explanation:
The claim that the medical records of patients in government-owned hospitals are available for public inspection under state "open records" or "sunshine" laws is false. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and state-level sunshine laws promote transparency in government by mandating that certain government documents and proceedings be made public. However, these laws also provide for exceptions to protect sensitive information, including personal privacy. Medical records, especially those pertaining to individual patients at government-owned hospitals, would fall under protected health information and are exempt from public disclosure to safeguard patient privacy.
The Government in Sunshine Act and similar state-level sunshine laws typically include exemptions for matters such as employee privacy issues and health records, amongst others. This is done to prevent the release of information that could harm an individual's privacy or other sensitivities. Therefore, access to medical records of patients is tightly controlled and not available for public review.