It must be great being a consultant.

The money is usually pretty good and given the fact, a consultant merely is a hired hand – and not the guy in charge – it’s easy to escape responsibility.

Occasionally, however, it’s the consultants who cause problems for those who hired them.

That may be the case with McKinsey & Company, one of the premier consulting outfits on the planet, which was retained last spring for a reported $5.5 million to help New Jersey respond to the pandemic.

Before we go any further, it’s necessary to ask why.

Follow government on any level for an extended period and you’ll be amazed at the number of consultants you see. In the case at hand, why do New Jersey officials, who deal with the ins and outs of the pandemic daily, need outside assistance? Or at least millions of dollars worth of outside assistance?

That question, which should have been fully explored a few months ago, needs, as they say, a “deep dive” now.

A New York Times story over last weekend cited court filings to reveal an awful part of McKinsey’s past.

The story said that as a consultant to Purdue Pharma, which has pleaded guilty to criminal charges involving its marketing of OxyContin, McKinsey came up with an “ingenious,” but thoroughly malicious, idea.

It suggested giving Purdue’s distributors – think drug store chains – rebates for OxyContin overdoses traced to pills they sold. This is one of those things you have to think about for a few seconds to fully grasp.

The apparent idea was that stores deserve compensation if their drug sales cause bad things to happen.

When this issue popped up at Gov. Phil Murphy’s briefing on Monday, the governor’s response was correct.

Under the presumption the report was accurate, Murphy said, “The notion of putting a price on somebody’s life is so offensive it’s beyond the pale.”

The problem was the governor didn’t go far enough.

He should have said something like, “Again, if the reports are accurate, we will take steps to end our relationship with McKinsey.”

At the same time, it also would be appropriate to review precisely why the state needed this high-priced consultant in the first place.

Who knows? That may eventually happen.

In the meantime, New Jersey Republicans have filed an OPRA request to see documents related to McKinsey and Doug Steinhardt, the state party chair, is revving up the rhetoric.

“The people of New Jersey deserve to see what these spin doctors are cooking up for Phil Murphy,” he said.

Republicans have been sputtering – politically speaking – since the pandemic began and Murphy’s approval ratings soared.

The GOP has tried lawsuits and given some support to anti-lockdown protests, but the governor’s approval ratings were still above 60 percent in the latest sampling.

This issue may not change things but Republicans have a genuine beef.